A hybrid carbocyclic/N-heterocyclic carbene ligand

We report the synthesis and characterisation of the first complex bearing a bidentate carbocyclic/N-heterocyclic carbene ligand, which represents an unprecedented combination of these two carbene classes. Starting from an unsubstituted cycloheptatrien-ylidene-Pd complex, the ligand was built up in an on-site synthesis at the metal center. DFT calculations were employed to understand the crucial allyl-to-alkyl rearrangement of the carbocycle in this sequence and all its binding modes during the reaction cascade were crystallographically characterised.