Two substrates containing an aryl iodide and an allenoate ester were prepared and the goldinduced cycloisomerisation to vinylgold(I) species and their proto-deauration as well as the intramolecular palladium-catalysed cross-coupling reactions were investigated. Switching to catalytic amounts of gold and palladium and stoichiometric amounts of silver did indeed furnish the product of a cycloisomerisation/intramolecular cross-coupling. Control experiments revealed that silver cannot substitute for gold or palladium in these reactions, but a different palladium catalyst in a different oxidation state also afforded the cycloisomerisation/intramolecular crosscoupling products in only slightly reduced yields. By ICP analysis the palladium was shown to contain gold only at the sub-ppm level. This shows how carefully results obtained with such systems have to be interpreted. Then a series of allylic and benzylic o-alkynylbenzoates were investigated in gold-and palladium-catalysed reactions. For esters of benzyl alcohol and cinnamyl alcohol no palladium co-catalyst was needed for the conversion. All reagents were thoroughly checked for palladium traces by ICP analysis in order to thoroughly exclude a gold/palladium cocatalysis. Optimisation of the gold complex, counter ion and solvent showed that gold(I) isonitrile precatalysts and silver triflate as activator in dioxane are suitable to convert a number of substrates with aryl, alkyl and even cyclopropyl substituents. Crossover experiments proved an intermolecular allyl transfer.

Gold complexes were prepared and investigated as catalysts for the oxidative esterification of aldehydes. Stabilisation by pyridine ligands gave good conversions and the in situ extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) study of the reactions indicated that the reaction mixtures contained only mononuclear gold species. Thus, this is the first proof for a homogeneous gold-catalysed oxidation reaction; the presence of nanoparticles could be excluded experimentally.

No abstract

In a systematic study of the Au‐catalyzed reaction of o‐alkynylphenols with aryldiazonium salts, we find that essentially the same reaction conditions lead to a change in mechanism when a light source is applied. If the reaction is carried out at room temperature using a AuI catalyst, the diazonium salt undergoes electrophilic deauration of a vinyl AuI intermediate and provides access to substituted azobenzofurans. If the reaction mixture is irradiated with blue LED light, C−C bond formation due to N2‐extrusion from the diazonium salt is realized selectively, using the same starting materials without the need for an additional photo(redox) catalyst under aerobic conditions. We report a series of experiments demonstrating that the same vinyl AuI intermediate is capable of producing the observed products under photolytic and thermal conditions. The finding that a vinyl AuI complex can directly, without the need for an additional photo(redox) catalyst, result in C−C bond formation under photolytic conditions is contrary to the proposed mechanistic pathways suggested in the literature till date and highlights that the role of oxidation state changes in photoredox catalysis involving Au is thus far only poorly understood and may hold surprises for the future. Computational results indicate that photochemical activation can occur directly from a donor–acceptor complex formed between the vinyl AuI intermediate and the diazonium salt.

The gold-catalyzed conversion of allyl-(ortho-alkynylphenyl)methyl ethers was investigated, and allylated isochromenes were obtained. An optimization of the catalysis conditions with respect to different phosphane and carbene ligands on gold, different counterions, and different solvents was conducted. Subsequently, the scope and limitations of this reaction were investigated with 21 substrates. The mechanistic studies show an allylic inversion, as supported by NMR data and an X-ray crystal structure analysis, as well as an intermolecular reaction, as determined by crossover experiments. There is no competition of protodeauration even in the presence of water. All these observations differ from other related conversions and clearly indicate product formation by a [3,3]sigmatropic rearrangement in the step forming the new C-C bond.