[(1,2,5,6-η)-Cyclo-octa-1,5-diene](1-methyl-3-propylimidazol-2-yl-idene-κC)(tri-phenyl-phosphane-κP)iridium(I) tetra-fluorido-borate.

A new imidazole-based N-heterocyclic carbene iridium(I) cationic complex with a tetra-fluorido-borate counter-anion, [Ir(C8H12)(C7H12N2)(C18H15P)]BF4, has been synthesized and structurally characterized. The complex cation has a distorted square-planar conformation around the IrI atom, formed by a bidentate cyclo-octa-1,5-diene (COD) ligand, a phosphane ligand, and an N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligand. The complex crystallizes in the triclinic space group P1 with one cationic Ir-NHC complex and one disordered [BF4]- anion in the asymmetric unit. Bond lengths and bond angles are as expected for an Ir-NHC complex. Several non-classical C-H⋯F hydrogen-bonding inter-actions between the various ligands (tri-phenyl-phosphane, NHC, and COD) and the tetra-fluorido-borate anion orient the metal cationic complex and the counter-anion in the crystal structure.