Gold Phenolate Complexes: Synthesis, Structure, and Reactivity

Seven different NHC gold­(I) phenolate complexes were synthesized. Structural data, including X-ray crystal structure analyses, could be obtained for each of them. An investigation by computational chemistry, including NBO analysis, indicates three-center–four-electron hyperbonds among the carbene carbon, the gold atom, and the oxygen atom of the phenolate with an approximate 60:40 distribution of the bonding interaction in favor of the carbene–gold bond. The new class of complexes shows only moderate catalytic activity.