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Ion pairing in cationic olefin-gold(I) complexes.

Daniele Zuccaccia¹, Leonardo Belpassi, Francesco Tarantelli

¹Dipartimento di Chimica, Università degli Studi di Perugia, Via Elce di Sotto, 8, 06123 Perugia, Italy.

Journal of the American Chemical Society

|February 18, 2009

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

The counterion

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Area of Science:

Organometallic Chemistry
Supramolecular Chemistry

Background:

Anion-cation interactions are crucial in organometallic complexes.
Understanding these interactions influences catalyst design and reactivity.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the relative anion-cation orientation in gold-styrene complexes.
To determine how ancillary ligands affect counterion positioning.

Main Methods:

Utilized Fluorine-19, Proton-1 Nuclear Overhauser Effect Spectroscopy (19F,1H-HOESY NMR).
Employed Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations with solvent and relativistic effects.

Main Results:

In [(PPh(3))Au(4-Me-styrene)]BF(4), the BF(4)(-) anion is near the olefin region, opposite the phenyl group.
In [(NHC)Au(4-Me-styrene)]BF(4), the BF(4)(-) anion is near the N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligand.
The counterion remains distant from the gold center in both complexes.

Conclusions:

The counterion's position is tunable via the ancillary ligand choice.
This tunability allows for greater control over catalyst properties and activity.