Guidelines To Select the N-Heterocyclic Carbene for the Organopolymerization of Monomers with a Polar Group

We report on the DFT stability of zwitterion and spirocycle adducts of five polar monomers with nine N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHC), covering the most typical classes of monomers and NHCs used in organopolymerization. Results indicate that the relative stability of the two adducts is dominated by the singlet triplet energy gap of the free NHC, with low energy gaps favoring the spirocycle adduct, while high energy gaps favor the zwitterionic adduct. This basic structure/property relationship can be tuned by the hindrance of the NHC and the nature of the monomer. In addition to rationalize existing systems, the 45 NHC/monomer combinations we examined can be used as a guideline to predict the behavior of a new NHC/monomer combination.