An allenylidene Au(i) catalyst derived from triazole units and its initial application

Abstract

An allenylidene Au(I) catalyst based on triazolylidene moieties, featuring the high σ-donating ability (comparable to that of other NHC ligands) and largely enhanced π-accepting ability of its ligand, was developed for the first time. As compared with the extant gold complexes such as IPrAuCl, Ph₃PAuCl and (PhO)₃PAuCl, these allenylidene Au(I) catalysts exhibited superior catalytic activities in the gold-catalyzed Nazarov reaction of aryl enones.