Gold-catalyzed direct oxidative coupling reactions of non-activated arenes

A general gold-catalyzed oxidative homo- and hetero-coupling of arenes in mild conditions is described. This reaction gives moderate to excellent yield using PhI(OAc)(2) as an oxidant. The effects of temperature, solvent, oxidant and concentration of substrate in this process have also been studied in detail. The product identity and distribution as well as the substrate limitation give us insights into this type of gold catalysts. Depending upon the reaction conditions, the gold catalyst behaves as a simple Lewis acid, which produces amines from arenes using DIAD as an aminating reagent. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.