Bicyclic Imidazoles for Modular Synthesis of Chiral Imidazolium Salts

The preparation of new chiral bicyclic imidazoles 5 and their transformation into imidazolium salts 6 and 7 are reported. The utility of the salts as precursors for chiral N-heterocyclic carbenes was demonstrated by the synthesis of C-N-C pincer Ni-complex 13h, the structure of which was characterized by single-crystal X-ray analysis.