hide
Free keywords:
carbenes; carbocations; gold; homogeneous catalysis; platinum
Abstract:
A gold rush: The Stork–Eschenmoser postulate explaining the course and stereoselectivity of cationic polyene cyclization reactions also holds true for cycloisomerization reactions catalyzed by gold. This result suggests that the pertinent intermediates (see scheme) are more adequately described as gold- stabilized carbocations rather than as gold carbenes. E=COOMe, L=neutral ligand.