Dinuclear and Tetranuclear s,p-Acetylide Gold(I) Complexes
COMMUNICATION
py (see Figures S26, S27, and S32 in the Supporting Informa-
tion).
phenylacetylene 6 by aniline 12, with 2, 3, or 7 as the cata-
lyst, was obtained with high Markovnikov regioselectivity
(see Figures S53–S60 in the Supporting Information for ki-
When the intermolecular hydroamination reaction of 1-
octyne with aniline was carried out by using complex 2 as
the catalyst under typical reaction conditions, 31P NMR
spectroscopy initially shows the peak at 62.64 ppm, charac-
teristic of 13, and gradual growth of a new peak at
57.93 ppm, attributable to complex 15, in which the imine is
coordinated to a AuI complex (see Scheme 4). Evidence of
the intermediacy of 15 was obtained by 1H, 31P, and
13C NMR spectroscopy (see Figures S35–S37 in the Support-
ing Information) and by MALDI-TOF-MS (see Figure S38
in the Supporting Information) of the reaction mixture. Re-
lease of N-(2-octylidene)aniline (16)[30] as the final product
by ligand exchange with 1-octyne or aniline would lead to
gold complexes 13 or 14, respectively, ready for the next cat-
alytic cycle. Only the Markovnikov product is formed (>
1
netic H and 31P NMR study).
In summary, in this study, we have been able to isolate
single crystals of a series of cationic digold and dicationic
ꢀ
tetragold complexes involving terminal C C groups as s
and p ligands, showing the general tendency of phosphine
AuI precatalysts to form this type of complex. When the
phosphine ligand is not a sufficiently bulky and stabilizing
agent, decomposition of the digold(I)–alkynide complex
occurs with the formation of monogold complexes and
Au NPs. 31P NMR spectroscopy and MALDI-TOF mass
spectrometry of the catalytic hydroamination reaction of ter-
minal alkynes shows that digold–alkynide complexes are
formed under the reaction conditions and their distribution
varies depending upon the reaction mixture. Overall, our
study provides a detailed description of the structures of the
AuI species during alkyne activation, showing the prevalence
of cationic digold complexes as intermediates.
1
99%). Imine 16 was isolated and characterized by H NMR
spectroscopy and GC-MS (see Figures S39 and S40 in the
Supporting Information).
An alternative catalytic experiment was carried out, in
which 15 mol% of gold complex 2 was added to aniline (12)
at RT and, after 1 h, the mixture was analyzed by 31P NMR
spectroscopy, showing the peak at 59.26 ppm characteristic
of complex 14 instead of the peak at 57.53 ppm for complex
2 (see Figures S41 and S42 in the Supporting Information).
At this time, an excess of 1-octyne (11, 2 equiv) with respect
to the starting aniline (12) was added at RT and, after 1 h,
the 31P NMR spectrum was recorded again. It was observed
that complex 14 (59.26 ppm) was completely consumed and
complex 13 was formed (62.64 ppm), together with an NMR
peak at 57.98 ppm, attributable to complex 15 (see
Scheme 4 and Figure S43 in the Supporting Information).
Over time (12 h), the peak corresponding to 15 was con-
sumed with the concomitant formation of N-(2-octylidene)a-
niline (16). The final gold species was 13 due to the condi-
tions for this experiment, with an excess of alkyne versus
amine (see Figure S44 in the Supporting Information); thus,
31P NMR spectroscopy conclusively shows that starting com-
plex 2, added as a precatalyst, is completely and consecu-
tively converted under the conditions of the hydroamination
of a terminal alkyne into the corresponding complexes 14,
13, and 15 and finally 13 depending upon the composition of
the reaction mixture and the relative concentrations of the
potential AuI ligands.
Experimental Section
X-Ray crystal structure analysis for 4, 5, 8, 9, 13, and 14: CCDC-921288
(4), CCDC-921289 (5), CCDC-921290 (8), CCDC-921291 (9), CCDC-
921292 (13), and CCDC-921293 (14) contain the supplementary crystallo-
graphic data for this paper. These data can be obtained free of charge
c.uk/data_request/cif.
Acknowledgements
Financial support by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitive-
ness (Severo Ochoa and CTQ2012-36351) and Generalidad Valenciana
(Prometeo 2012/014) is gratefully acknowledged.
Keywords: gold · gold complexes · gold nanoparticles ·
homogeneous catalysis · hydroamination reactions
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Similar catalytic studies of the hydroamination by aniline
(12) of terminal alkynes 6 and 11 were carried out by using
complexes 2, 3, 7, and 13 as catalysts (Table S7 in the Sup-
porting Information). N-(1-Phenylethylidene)aniline (17)[28]
was also isolated and characterized by 1H and 13C NMR
spectroscopy and GC-MS (see Figures S45, S46, and S47 in
the Supporting Information). The corresponding gold imine
1
complexes, 18 or 19, were characterized in situ by H, 31P,
and 13C NMR spectroscopy (see Figures S48–S50 for 18 in
the Supporting Information) and by MALDI-TOF-MS (see
Figure S51 for 18 and S52 for 19 in the Supporting Informa-
tion), whereas the imine, 17, formed by hydroamination of
Chem. Eur. J. 2013, 19, 12239 – 12244
ꢄ 2013 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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