Published as part of the 50 Years SYNTHESIS – Golden Anniversary Issue
Abstract
Gold vinylidenes have recently emerged as useful intermediates in synthetic organic chemistry. These species, which can principally be accessed by a 1,2-migration process from a gold-activated alkyne or by dual gold catalysis on a diyne substrate, can react with nucleophilic partners or by C–H insertion to produce a variety of functionalized (poly)cyclic compounds. This short review covers the synthetic approaches developed so far to access gold vinylidenes and the different reactivities these species can exhibit.
1 Introduction
2 1,2-Migration Processes
3 Dual Gold Catalysis
4 Other Processes
5 Conclusion
Key words
vinylidene - reactive intermediate - gold - catalysis - dual catalysis - nucleophilic trapping - C–H insertion