Adrian Gomez-Suarez, Yoshihiro Oonishi, Anthony R. Martin, Sai V. C. Vummaleti, David J. Nelson, David B. Cordes, Alexandra M. Z. Slawin, Luigi Cavallo, Steven P. Nolan, Albert Poater
CHEMISTRY-A EUROPEAN JOURNAL 22 3 1125 - 1132 2016年01月
[査読有り][通常論文] Herein, we present a detailed investigation of the mechanistic aspects of the dual gold-catalysed hydrophenoxylation of alkynes by both experimental and computational methods. The dissociation of [{Au(NHC)}(2)(mu-OH)][BF4] is essential to enter the catalytic cycle, and this step is favoured by the presence of bulky, non-coordinating counter ions. Moreover, in silico studies confirmed that phenol does not only act as a reactant, but also as a co-catalyst, lowering the energy barriers of several transition states. A gem-diaurated species might form during the reaction, but this lies deep within a potential energy well, and is likely to be an "off-cycle" rather than an "in-cycle" intermediate.