Quantitative description of structural effects on the stability of gold(I) carbenes

The gas-phase bond-dissociation energies of a SO2 -imidazolylidene leaving group of three gold(I) benzyl imidazolium sulfone complexes are reported (E0 =46.6±1.7, 49.6±1.7, and 48.9±2.1 kcal mol(-1) ). Although these energies are similar to each other, they are reproducibly distinguishable. The energy-resolved collision-induced dissociation experiments of the three [L]-gold(I) (L=ligand) carbene precursor complexes were performed by using a modified tandem mass spectrometer. The measurements quantitatively describe the structural and electronic effects a p-methoxy substituent on the benzyl fragment, and trans [NHC] and [P] gold ligands, have towards gold carbene formation. Evidence for the formation of the electrophilic gold carbene in solution was obtained through the stoichiometric and catalytic cyclopropanation of olefins under thermal conditions. The observed cyclopropane yields are dependent on the rate of gold carbene formation, which in turn is influenced by the ligand and substituent. The donation of electron density to the carbene carbon by the p-methoxy benzyl substituent and [NHC] ligand stabilizes the gold carbene intermediate and lowers the dissociation barrier. Through the careful comparison of gas-phase and solution chemistry, the results suggest that even gas-phase leaving-group bond-dissociation energy differences of 2-3 kcal mol(-1) enormously affect the rate of gold carbene formation in solution, especially when there are competing reactions. The thermal decay of the gold carbene precursor complex was observed to follow first-order kinetics, whereas cyclopropanation was found to follow pseudo-first-order kinetics. Density-functional-theory calculations at the M06-L and BP86-D3 levels of theory were used to confirm the observed gas-phase reactivity and model the measured bond-dissociation energies.