title: Gold carbenes via 1,2-dialkoxycyclopropane ring-opening: a mass spectrometric and DFT study of the reaction pathways.
abstract: We report experimental and computational evidence that cationic N-heterocyclic carbene gold complexes with electron-rich cyclopropanes rearrange to produce Fischer gold carbene complexes in the gas phase, in analogy to long-known condensed-phase rearrangements of protonated cyclopropanes. Our results help to generalize the relationship between Lewis-acidic metal complexes of cyclopropanes, metallacyclobutanes and metal carbenes.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorium für Organische Chemie, ETH Zürich, Wolfgang-Pauli-Strasse 10, CH-8093, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Laurent
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Batiste
authors.forename: Alexey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fedorov
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chen