Gold-Catalysed Heck Reaction: Fact or Fiction? Correspondence on "Unlocking the Chain Walking Process in Gold Catalysis".

Two recent high-profile publications reported the formation of Heck-type arylated alkenes catalysed by MeDalPhosAuCl/AgOTf (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2023, 145, 8810) and their cyclisation to tetralines (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2023, e202312786). It was claimed that these were the first demonstrations in gold catalysis of alkene insertion into Au-aryl bonds, ß-H elimination and chain-walking by Au-H dications. We show here that in fact this chemistry is a two-stage process. Only the first step, the production of an alkyl triflate ester as the primary organic product by the well-known alkene heteroarylation sequence, involves gold. The subsequent formation of Heck-type olefins and their cyclisation to tetralines represent classical H+-triggered carbocationic chemistry. These steps proceed in the absence of gold with identical results. Literature claims of new gold reactivity such as chain walking by the putative [LAuH]2+ dication have no basis in fact.

Tweaking the bridge in metallocene Zr(IV)/W(IV) bimetallic hydrides.

Zirconocene cations react with Cp2WH2 affording the bimetallic [Cp2Zr(µ-H)(µ-η1:η5-C5H4)WHCp]+ bridging hydride 1 (Cp = cyclopentadienyl anion, C5H5-) via σ-bond metathesis. Complex 1 features an atypical out of plane Zr(µ-H)W moiety, where no intermetallic interaction is involved, and a fluxional core. Coordination geometry and bond distances of the bridging hydride interaction can be modulated upon reaction with Lewis bases and unsaturated substrates. PMe3, P(p-tol)3, 3,5-dimethylpyridine and THF bind to 1 and shift the hydride bridge on the coordination plane of Zr. Insertion of olefins and alkynes into the Zr-C bond of 1 leads instead to alkyl and vinyl species where the Zr and W coordination planes are perpendicular to each other. Such alterations of the Zr(µ-H)W arrangement are reflected in the average 1H NMR chemical shift values of the hydride, which correlate linearly with computed Zr-H distances. Reactivity experiments with H2 showed that the bridging hydride interaction prevents bimetallic cooperativity and that σ-bond metathesis between Zr-C and H-H bonds is the preferred pathway for all the investigated complexes.