1-Hydroxyimidazole-3-oxides (2-H, 2-Me) were alkylated with (RO)2SO2 (R =Me, Et) to give the new 1,3-di(alkyloxy)imidazolium cations which were isolated as hexafluorophosphates. Ion metathesis yielded new hydrophobic ionic liquids (bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imides, tris(pentafluoroethyl) trifluorophosphates). Bromination afforded 2-bromo derivatives which were converted to Ni and Pd N-heterocyclic carbene complexes by oxidative insertion. Fifteen crystal structures were determined by X-ray diffraction. The N-alkyloxy groups are twisted out of the imidazole ring plane and adopt either syn or anti conformations in the solid state.
A new and convenient synthetic pathway to 1,3-di(alkoxy)imidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)amides and novel 1,3-di(alkoxy)imidazolium tetrachloroferrates was developed. As an intermediate isolation step of the respective hexafluorophosphates was required in previously reported preparations, they suffered from low overall yields and additional expense. The use of FeCl3/HCl resulted in substantially improved yields and allows one-pot preparations with good scalability. Results of single-crystal X-ray structure determination of the new tetrachloroferrate salts are discussed.