Synthesis and properties of new gold iminocarbene complexes

Abstract

The prevalence of gold catalysis in the synthetic community has increased dramatically within the last few years, and a wide range of N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) gold(I) and, to a lesser extent, gold(III) complexes have been studied and probed for their catalytic activity in organic transformations. Here, a number of novel iminocarbene gold(I) and gold(III) complexes have been synthesised and characterised by NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and X-ray crystallography. The proposed interaction between the gold(III) metal centre and imine functionality pendant from the NHC ligand has been studied at the DFT level of theory and from an analysis of the electron density and its derivatives it has been shown that there is an attractive non-covalent interaction between these sites. Preliminary results also indicate that a [C,N]-chelating iminocarbene gold(III) complex has been prepared.