Catalysts by the meter: rapid screening approach of N-heterocyclic carbene ligand based catalysts

Here, we demonstrate a versatile screening platform for NHC ligand based catalysts by coating fused-silica micro capillaries with a bonded 1,3-bismesityl-2-imidazolidinylidene ligand. Such micro capillaries can be efficiently converted into (pre)-catalysts from various organometallic precursors by solid-phase chemistry techniques and can be quantitatively screened using on-column reaction chromatography.