Tethered N-Heterocyclic Carbene-Carboranes: Unique Ligands that Exhibit Unprecedented and Versatile Coordination Modes at Rhodium

Four brand new hybrid ligands combining an N-heterocyclic carbene tethered with two isomeric nido-dicarbaundecaborane dianions, a neutral closo-dicarbadodecaborane or a closo-dicarbadodecaborane anion are described. Versatile coordination of the ligands to RhI is demonstrated, in which both NHC and carborane moieties covalently coordinate a metal centre