Bridging the gap between homogeneous and heterogeneous gold catalysis: supported gold nanoparticles as heterogeneous catalysts for the benzannulation reaction

Gold nanoparticles supported on metal oxides and activated carbon are able to catalyze the benzannulation reaction of o-(phenylethynyl)benzaidehyde and phenylacetylene to 1-benzoyl-2-phenylnaphtalene with high selectivity at 99% conversion. Benzannulation of ortho-alkynyl benzaldehydes is a reaction typically catalyzed by soluble AUCl(3) and, now, we have found that it can also be catalyzed by heterogeneous gold supported catalysts. The heterogeneous catalytic system can be reused several times without loss of activity or selectivities.