Patent ID: 7053221

Claim:
A heteroatom-stabilized carbene having the structure of formula (I) wherein: E 1 and E 2 are independently selected from N, NR E , P, and PR E , R E is hydrogen, heteroalkyl, or heteroaryl, x and y are independently zero, 1, or 2, and are selected to correspond to the valence state of E 1 and E 2 , respectively, and E 1 and E 2 are linked through a linking moiety that provides a heterocyclic ring in which E 1 and E 2 are incorporated as heteroatoms; R 1 and R 2 are independently selected from branched C 3 –C 30 hydrocarbyl, substituted branched C 3 –C 30 hydrocarbyl, heteroatom-containing branched C 4 –C 30 hydrocarbyl, substituted heteroatom-containing branched C 4 –C 30 hydrocarbyl, cyclic C 5 –C 30 hydrocarbyl, substituted cyclic C 5 –C 30 hydrocarbyl, heteroatom-containing cyclic C 1 –C 30 hydrocarbyl, and substituted heteroatom-containing cyclic C 1 –C 30 hydrocarbyl; L 1 and L 2 are linkers containing 1 to 6 spacer atoms, and are independently selected from heteroatoms, substituted heteroatoms, hydrocarbylene, substituted hydrocarbylene, heteroatom-containing hydrocarbylene, and substituted heteroatom-containing hydrocarbylene; and m and n are independently zero or 1, with the proviso that a heteroatom is directly bound to E 1 , E 2 , or to both E 1 and E 2 .