A robust acenaphthoimidazolylidene gold complex is demonstrated as a highly efficient catalyst in the direct alkylsulfonylation of boronic acids. Remarkably, a wide range of highly reactive and unreactive C-electrophiles were well tolerated to produce various (hetero)aryl-alkyl, aryl-alkenyl, and alkenyl-alkyl sulfones in satisfactory yields with 5 mol % catalyst loading. Along with the steric properties of NHC ligands, the high catalytic activity of this gold complex suggests that the strong sigma-donation of acenaphthoimidazolylidene also played a role in promoting this challenging redox-neutral catalytic process.
[1]Fudan Univ, Dept Chem, Shanghai Key Lab Mol Catalysis & Innovat Mat, Shanghai 200433, Peoples R China;
[2]Chinese Acad Sci, Shanghai Inst Organ Chem, State Key Lab Organometall Chem, 345 Lingling Lu, Shanghai 200032, Peoples R China
(8.0+极速模式)