Recent Advances in Gold-Catalyzed Intermolecular Aryl C-H Functionalization

The direct and selective functionalization of C-H bonds offers a powerful opportunity for greener and shorter routes to valuable chemicals. While still in its infancy, research exploiting the unique features of gold catalysis for the functionalization of aryl C-H bonds has demonstrated great potential for facile regioselective decoration of (hetero)arenes. Particularly within the last five years, a more general strategy for utilizing oxidative gold catalysis has emanated including an improved understanding of the underlying mechanistic pathways. To encourage and facilitate further research in intermolecular C-H functionalization of arenes with homogeneous gold catalysis, this Minireview critically presents the transformations and mechanistic data available within this field.