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Updated: Feb 20, 2026

Photogeneration of N-Heterocyclic Carbenes: Application in Photoinduced Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization
Published on: November 29, 2018
Photoassisted Homocoupling of Methyl Iodide Mediated by Atomic Gold in Low-Temperature Neon Matrix
Satoru Muramatsu1, Xuan Wu2, Mohua Chen2
1Department of Chemistry, School of Science, The University of Tokyo , 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
Abstract:
Infrared spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations showed that the gold complexes [CH3-Au-I] and [(CH3)2-Au-I2], in which one and two CH3I molecule(s), respectively, are oxidatively adsorbed on the Au atoms, are formed in a solid neon matrix via reactions between laser-ablated gold atoms and CH3I. Global reaction route mapping calculations revealed that the heights of the activation barriers for the sequential oxidative additions to produce [CH3-Au-I] and [(CH3)2-Au-I2] are 0.53 and 1.00 eV, respectively, suggesting that the reactions proceed via electronically excited states. The reductive elimination of ethane (C2H6) from [(CH3)2-Au-I2] leaving AuI2 was hindered by an activation barrier as high as 1.22 eV but was induced by visible-light irradiation on [(CH3)2-Au-I2]. These results demonstrate that photoassisted homocoupling of CH3I is mediated by Au atoms via [(CH3)2-Au-I2] as an intermediate.
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