When gold can do what iodine cannot do: A critical comparison
2011

Gold vs Iodine in Organic Synthesis

publication Evidence: moderate

Author Information

Author(s): Sara Hummel, Stefan F. Kirsch

Primary Institution: Technische Universität München

Hypothesis

Can iodonium activation match gold-catalyzed reactions in organic synthesis?

Conclusion

Gold-catalyzed domino processes can often be paralleled by employing iodine electrophiles, although they may yield different products.

Supporting Evidence

  • Gold catalysis has shown outstanding functional group tolerance in organic synthesis.
  • Iodine electrophiles can sometimes replace gold in reactions to yield similar products.
  • Different product frameworks can be achieved depending on whether gold or iodine is used.

Takeaway

This study shows that sometimes you can use iodine instead of gold to make similar chemical products, but they might be a bit different.

Methodology

The review compares gold-catalyzed and iodine-mediated reactions in organic synthesis.

Limitations

The review does not cover all types of reactions and focuses mainly on alkyne activation.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.3762/bjoc.7.97

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