N-Functionalised heterocyclic carbene complexes of silver

N-Functionalised imidazol-2-ylidene carbene complexes of AgI have been prepared by interaction of the corresponding imidazolium salt with Ag2O in dichloromethane or 1,2-dichloroethane in the presence of molecular sieves or with Ag2CO3 in 1,2-dichloroethane. In an analogous way disilver(I) complexes of o-phenylenedimethylenebis(imidazol-2-ylidene) have been obtained. Their structures, as determined by X-ray crystallography, indicate that the carbene ligand acts as monodentate from the carbene end or as a bridge between two different metal atoms. In one case the silver is coordinated by two carbene ligands. In the majority of the structurally characterised complexes the metal centres adopt linear geometries with M–C(carbene) bond lengths in the range of 207–210 pm characteristic of a single bond.