Gold phosphole complexes as efficient catalysts for alkyne activation

Kévin Fourmy (1) , Sonia Mallet-Ladeira (1) , Odile Dechy-Cabaret (1) , Maryse Gouygou (1)

1 LCC - Laboratoire de chimie de coordination

Gold(I) complexes bearing monophosphole ligands were synthesized, and their electronic and steric properties were compared to those of their triphenylphosphine-based counterparts. Cationic phosphole-based gold(I) complexes are active and selective in enyne cycloisomerization and in olefin cyclopropanation, with a good correlation between the ligand σ-donor ability and the catalytic activity. For the most efficient ligand, 1-phenyl-2,3,4,5-tetramethylphosphole (TMP), a highly active, selective, and stable cationic [Au(TMP)(CH3CN)]SbF6 complex was isolated.

Kévin Fourmy, Sonia Mallet-Ladeira, Odile Dechy-Cabaret, Maryse Gouygou. Gold phosphole complexes as efficient catalysts for alkyne activation. Organometallics, 2013, 32 (6), pp.1571-1574. ⟨10.1021/om301244m⟩. ⟨hal-00994523⟩