Unified Gold(I/III)-Catalyzed Arylative, Vinylative, and Alkynylative Lactonization via Iminium-Directed Cyclization Enabled by Hemilabile Ligands
We report a unified strategy for the synthesis of functionalized lactones via hemilabile Au(I)/Au(III) redox catalysis. Oxidative addition of aryl, vinyl, or alkynyl iodides to Au(I) is followed by iminium-directed π-activation and lactonization, using AgOTf as a halide scavenger. The method affords 49 lactones under mild, scalable conditions with broad functional group tolerance. Mechanistic studies support iminium and Au(III) intermediates. Moreover, we present a new Au(I)/(III) hemilabile complex that is particularly effective in alkynylation.
Authors
- Louis Fensterbank (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0001-7120)
- Virginie Mouriès‐Mansuy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1804-4848)
- Jorge C. Herrera‐Luna (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2992-7339)
- Riccardo Mobili (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4451-4364)
- Cyril Ollivier (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2416-4467)
Institutions
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Collège de France (FR)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- Institut Parisien de Chimie Moléculaire (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Organic Letters
- Published
- 2026-04-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.orglett.6c01067
- Primary Topic
- Catalytic Alkyne Reactions
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche
- Generalitat Valenciana
- Sorbonne Université