Final Report Summary - NIGOCAT (Nature-Inspired Gold Catalytic Tools) NIGOCAT focused on the design, synthesis and mechanistic characterization of highly oxidized gold species. Gold-catalyzed oxidative cross-couplings have bloomed in the past few years postulating gold(III) complexes as putative reaction intermediates. However, these highly labile species could only be scarcely characterized. In the course of the project, experimental proof for Au(I)/Au(III) catalytic cycles was attained using a combination of stoichiometric experiments and physico-chemical tools. In addition, a new family of pincer NCC ligands was developed enabling the isolation and characterization, for the first time, of elusive gold species such as gold fluorides and gold formates.NIGOCAT has also been extended to the development of efficient methodologies towards the chemo- regio- and stereocontrolled functionalization of alkyne and alkenes. These methods have enable us to efficiently build-up molecular complexity from simple building blocks.
