Debasish Ghorai and Joyanta Choudhury
Chem. Commun., 2014,50, 15159-15162
DOI:
10.1039/C4CC07170K,
Communication
Disclosed herein is the unique conjugative role of N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands as a directing group in aromatic C–H activation, coupled with a facile NHC–alkenyl annulative reductive elimination which guided the RhIII-catalyzed intermolecular annulations of imidazolium salts and alkynes under ambient conditions leading to structurally important imidazo[1,2-a]quinolinium motifs.