Synthesis, characterization and catalytic activity of Ru(II)-N-heterocyclic carbene complexes with long aliphatic side chain

N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) have become prominent examples of transition metal catalysts due to their extraordinary electron donor properties resulting in strong metal-ligand bonds. Numerous functionalized NHC complexes are available in the literature. However, there are very few studies involving long alkyl chain derivatives. Therefore, for this purpose, NHC precursors containing long alkyl chains and the corresponding metal-NHC (M: Ag, Ru) complexes were synthesized within the scope of the thesis. In this thesis, firstly NHC precursors (1,3-dialkyl-5,6-dimethylbenzimidazolium salts) synthesized according to literature. Then silver complexes were prepared from the reaction of Ag2O with an NHC precursor salt using in situ deprotonation techniques giving the desired structures in good yield. These synthesized Ag(I)-NHC complexes were used as NHC transfer agents to prepare Ru(II) complexes. A series of Ru(ІІ)-NHC complexes were prepared by transmetalation techniques reacting the silver complexes as transfer agents with [RuCl2(p-cymene)]2 in dichloromethane. Finally, the catalytic activity of the synthesized Ru(II)-NHC complexes was investigated in the transfer hydrogenation reaction.