Evidencing an inner-sphere mechanism for NHC-Au(I)-catalyzed carbene-transfer reactions from ethyl diazoacetate

• Manuel R. Fructos,
• Juan Urbano,
• M. Mar Díaz-Requejo and
• Pedro J. Pérez

Beilstein J. Org. Chem. 2015, 11, 2254–2260, doi:10.3762/bjoc.11.245

• CHCO2Et to the substrate (styrene or methanol) takes place in the coordination sphere of Au(I) by means of an inner-sphere mechanism, in contrast to the generally accepted proposal of outer-sphere mechanisms for Au(I)-catalyzed reactions. Keywords: carbene transfer; inner sphere; gold catalysis; O–H

• functionalization; olefin cyclopropanation; Introduction The discovery of the catalytic capabilities of soluble gold(I) species toward the hydration of alkynes by Teles and co-workers [1] is considered as the rising of the golden era for the use of this metal in homogeneous catalysis [2][3]. A number of