Six rhodium-carbene complexes (2a-f) have been prepared and the new compounds characterized by C, H, N analyses, H-1-n.m.r. and C-13-n.m.r. Phenylboronic acid reacts with aldehydes in the presence of a catalytic amount of rhodium(I)-carbene complex, RhCl(COD)(1,3-dialkylbenzimidazolidin-2-ylidene), (2a-f), to give the corresponding aryl secondary alcohols in good yields.
C1 Inonu Univ, Fac Sci Arts, Dept Chem, TR-44280 Malatya, Turkey.
Ege Univ, Dept Chem, TR-35100 Izmir, Turkey.