We report on a single-step procedure for the synthesis of dinuclear gold(I) complexes with bridging di(Nheterocyclic carbene) (diNHC) ligands of general formula Au 2 Br 2 L 1−9 (L = diNHC). The obtained complexes differ in the bridging group between the carbene donors and in the terminal wingtip substituents at the imidazol-2-ylidene rings. The complexes have been characterized by means of elemental analysis, NMR spectroscopy, ESI-MS spectrometry, and singlecrystal X-ray structure analysis. The dinuclear gold(I) complexes have been tested as homogeneous catalysts in technologically relevant reactions such as the cross coupling between phenylboronic acid and aryl bromides and the intermolecular hydroamination of alkynes. The catalytic performance has been compared for complexes Au 2 Br 2 L 1−9 and the benchmark mononuclear complex IPrAuCl.
The use of alkynyl gold(I) complexes covers different research fields, such as bioinorganic chemistry, catalysis, and material science, considering the luminescent properties of the complexes. Regarding this last application, we report here the synthesis of three novel dinuclear gold(I) complexes of the general formula [(diNHC)(Au-C≡CPh)2]: two Au-C≡CPh units are connected by a bridging di(N-heterocyclic carbene) ligand, which should favor the establishment of semi-supported aurophilic interactions. The complexes can be easily synthesized through mechanochemistry upon reacting the pristine dibromido complexes [(diNHC)(AuBr)2] with phenylacetylene and KOH. Interestingly, we were also able to isolate the monosubstituted complex [(diNHC)(Au-C≡CPh)(AuBr)]. The gold(I) species were fully characterized by multinuclear NMR spectroscopy and mass spectrometry. The emission properties were also evaluated, and the salient data are comparable to those of analogous compounds reported in the literature.
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