Increased Stability of NO and NS Heterocyclic Carbenes?

Abstract

Density functional theory has been used to investigate the effects of alkylation and oxidation on the stability of NO and NS heterocyclic carbenes. While O- and S-alkylation leads to a dramatic increase in stability with respect to dimerization, oxidation of the NS heterocyclic carbene to form the sulphoxide appears to have the opposite effect.