Front Cover: Liquid Dynamics Determine Transition Metal‐N‐Heterocyclic Carbene Complex Formation (Chem. Eur. J. 18/2023)

To form an ion pair with an imidazolium cation, the base must first “find” the substrate, like a pirate who is searching for treasure. The treasure is the acidic proton of the imidazolium cation which will need to be abstracted by the base. The ionic base can effectively approach the cation, while the non-ionic one wanders off. More information can be found in the Research Article by O. Hollóczki and co-workers (DOI: 10.1002/chem.202203636).