Lionel Delaude

Apr 4, 2023 | dx.doi.org | Francois Mazars |Lionel Delaude |M. Concepción |Rakesh Kumar

Two ruthenium–arene complexes with the generic formula [RuCl2(p-cymene)(NHC)] were readily obtained from natural, abundant, and renewable methylxanthine alkaloids used as N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) precursors. After optimization, the known compound Ru-1 featuring the 1,3,7,9-tetramethylxanthine-8-ylidene ligand was isolated in three steps and 72% overall yield starting from caffeine.