The facile alkylation and iodination of imidazol(in)ium salts in the presence of cesium carbonate.

The alkylation or iodination of imidazol(in)ium salts takes place readily in the presence of Cs 2 CO 3 . The procedure is very easy to implement and provides facile and straightforward access to a wealth of C2-substituted azolium salts. Furthermore, a C2α alkylation is also feasible, which extends the chemistry of NHCs and weak bases to their NHO analogues.