Rhodium(III)–N-Heterocyclic Carbene-Driven Cascade C–H Activation Catalysis

Catalytic aromatic C–H bond activation and functionalization to useful molecules is highly important in chemical synthesis. This study introduces a novel use of the highly popular N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHC), for the first-time, in rhodium­(III)-catalyzed cascade double aromatic C–H activation–annulation, within the backbone of readily available imidazolium substrates to synthesize a variety of nicely decorated polycyclic heteroaromatic molecules containing benzo­[ij]­imidazo­[2,1,5-de]­quinolizinium architectures which might be useful for developing new luminescent materials.