**Acknowledgements**

VBG gratefully acknowledges Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), New Delhi, for research funding (EEQ/2016/000837) and fellowship to BPJ. Thanks to the funding, it gave us an opportunity to initiate and establish our work in this exciting field on imidazolium-based NHC chemistry. Authors are also thankful to the Department of Chemistry, School of Basic and Applied Sciences, Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur, India.
