Mechanistic details for oxidative addition of PhICl2 to gold(i) complexes

Abstract

This study demonstrates that the oxidative addition of hypervalent iodine PhICl2 to Au(i) complexes LAuAr follows an unprecedented stepwise mechanism. The energy of the Au(i) dx2−y2 orbital determines the ease of the oxidative addition reaction; the fewer electron-withdrawing substituents present on the Ar ligand, the higher the energy of the dx2−y2 orbital and the easier the oxidative addition. Show more