Reactivity of Gold Complexes towards Elementary Organometallic Reactions

For a while, the reactivity of gold complexes was largely dominated by their Lewis acid behavior. In contrast to the other transition metals, the elementary steps of organometallic chemistry-oxidative addition, reductive elimination, transmetallation, migratory insertion-have scarcely been studied in the case of gold or even remained unprecedented until recently. However, within the last few years, the ability of gold complexes to undergo these fundamental reactions has been unambiguously demonstrated, and the reactivity of gold complexes was shown to extend well beyond pi-activation. In this Review, the main achievements described in this area are presented in a historical context. Particular emphasis is set on mechanistic studies and structure determination of key intermediates. The electronic and structural parameters delineating the reactivity of gold complexes are discussed, as well as the remaining challenges.