Conférence Dr David MARTIN

Dr David MARTIN

Département de Chimie Moléculaire – Université Grenoble Alpes
E-mail:  David.Martin@univ-grenoble-alpes.fr

The electrochemistry of N-heterocyclic carbenes and implications in radical catalysis

In spite of the spectacular methodologic development of N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHC) as catalysts for challenging radical transformations in the recent years, the mechanistic understanding of these reactions has remained superficial. How do occur challenging redox activations with NHC ? Is it radical catalysis or initiation? Are there intrinsic limitations? Is it possible to perform metal-like super reduction? We will attempt to assess these questions, either for transformations involving aldehydes derivatives (Breslow-type catalysis), or not (free-NHC promoted radical reactions). In particular, we will consider the possible observation and relevance of radical ions of free NHC, which have been hypothesized, but have remained elusive to date.