Gold catalysis and new chiral NHC compounds.

Gold catalysis of organic reactions has become a rapidly expanding field in recent years after being neglected by organic chemists for a long time. Gold catalysts react in very selective ways and may give access to highly complex molecules. The present p roject describes the continued investigations of our recently discovered new gold catalysed mono- and tandem cyclisation reactions, covering mechanistic studies and modified substrates, such as vinylesters/-amides, indoles, alkynesulfoxides, as well as st eroselective gold catalysed reactions. NHC (N-Heterocyclic Carbene) compounds are electron-rich N,N-disubstituted imidazol-2-ylidenes developed the last decade due to their attractive properties. In particular, they play a favourable role in transition m etal catalyzed reactions, replacing the traditional phosphine ligands. We will design and prepare a number of new chiral NHC ligands, based on suitable approaches for such syntheses. The ability of the new NHC ligands to afford chiral induction in organoc atalytic transformations will be studied. A collaboration with a research group at the University of Hamburg and SINTEF Biotechnology, Trondheim, has been established.