A Useful Gold(I) Complex Precursor Usable for the Preparation of Various Gold(I) Complexes

Chloro(dimethylsulfide)gold(I) (1) is a gold complex easily handled in air and used as a precursor to prepare various gold(I) complexes. In a methylene chloride or acetone solvent, a dimethyl sulfide ligand of 1 exchanges with some ligands such as phosphines and N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHC) to form the related gold(I)-phosphine and gold(I)-NHC complexes. These complexes are used as synthetic catalysts for olefin cyclopropanations and cycloaddition reactions etc.,^1,2） and are also used for the study of the complex chemistry.³⁾