Synthesis of L–Au(I)–CF 2 H complexes and their application as transmetalation shuttles to the difluoromethylation of aryl Iodides

Abstract

We describe herein two alternative protocols to efficiently prepare difluoromethylgold(I) complexes bearing ancillary ligands with different electronic and steric properties. LAu–OX (X = H and t-Bu) species, formed in the presence of base, have been identified as intermediate complexes involved in these transformations. The application of these compounds as “CF2H transmetalation shuttles” from gold to palladium has been demonstrated in a Pd-catalyzed difluoromethylation reaction of aryl iodides, in which the Au-to-Pd transfer of “CF2H” is feasible under stoichiometric conditions. These findings will pave the way for catalytic manifolds in gold chemistry.