Antoine Simonneau's thesis highlights the development of new cycloisomerization reactions through the activation of alkynes with gold complexes. First Simonneau describes 1,6-enynes and their direct conversion into allenes through 1,5-hydride or ester migration processes. The author and his team used appropriate propargylic functional groups to achieve this conversion. This study shows that O-tethered 1,6-enynes carrying a strained cycloalkane at the propargylic position could undergo a cyclopropanation/ring expansion cascade reaction. The author employed this rearrangement as the starting point in the design of a new macro cycle synthesis. The next part of the thesis focuses on the cycloisomerization of diynes involving as the first step of the process the rearrangement of one alkyne partner into an allene thanks to a gold-catalyzed 1,3-shift of a propargylic ester. The thesis discloses a new cycloisomerization pattern featuring a 1,5-carbonyl transfer, giving rise to unprecedented cross-conjugated diketones. In the final part of the research, Simmoneau investigates the gold-catalyzed cycloisomerization mechanism of 1,6-enynes and questions the intermediacy of gold acetylides. By the means of NMR and mass spectrometry analysis, theoretical treatment and solution experiments, it was possible to rule out the involvement of these species in the catalytic cycle. This thesis has led to a number of publications in high-impact journals.

With its impressive features, gold has led to completely new reaction types in recent years, which in turn have strongly influenced both organic catalysis and material science. Other fields where a significant amount of new results has been obtained include nanotechnology, self assembly/supramolecular systems and biochemical/medicinal chemistry. As a result, gold is one of the hottest topics in catalysis at the moment, with an increasing amount of research being carried out in this field. While focusing on homogeneous catalysis, this monograph also covers the main applications in heterogeneous catalysis. Following a look at the gold-catalyzed addition of heteroatom nucleophiles to alkynes, it goes on to discuss gold-catalyzed additions to allenes and alkenes, gold-catalyzed benzannulations, cycloisomerization and rearrangement reactions, as well as oxidation and reduction reactions. The whole is finished off with a section on gold-catalyzed aldol and related reactions and the application of gold-catalyzed reactions to natural product synthesis. Of interest to synthetic chemists and inorganic chemists, as well as organic chemists working in homogeneous catalysis, physical and technical chemists.

Gold has traditionally been regarded as inactive as a catalytic metal. However, the advent of nanoparticulate gold on high surface area oxide supports has demonstrated its high catalytic activity in many chemical reactions. Gold is active as a heterogeneous catalyst in both gas and liquid phases, and complexes catalyse reactions homogeneously in solution. Many of the reactions being studied will lead to new application areas for catalysis by gold in pollution control, chemical processing, sensors and fuel cell technology. This book describes the properties of gold, the methods for preparing gold catalysts and ways to characterise and use them effectively in reactions. The reaction mechanisms and reasons for the high activities are discussed and the applications for gold catalysis considered./a

The series Topics in Current Chemistry presents critical reviews of the present and future trends in modern chemical research. The scope of coverage is all areas of chemical science including the interfaces with related disciplines such as biology, medicine and materials science. The goal of each thematic volume is to give the non-specialist reader, whether in academia or industry, a comprehensive insight into an area where new research is emerging which is of interest to a larger scientific audience. Each review within the volume critically surveys one aspect of that topic and places it within the context of the volume as a whole. The most significant developments of the last 5 to 10 years are presented using selected examples to illustrate the principles discussed. The coverage is not intended to be an exhaustive summary of the field or include large quantities of data, but should rather be conceptual, concentrating on the methodological thinking that will allow the non-specialist reader to understand the information presented. Contributions also offer an outlook on potential future developments in the field. Review articles for the individual volumes are invited by the volume editors. Readership: research chemists at universities or in industry, graduate students.

Research on designing new catalytic systems has been one of the most important fields in modern organic chemistry. One reason for this is the predominant contribution of catalysis to the concepts of atom economy and green chemistry in the 21st century. Gold, considered catalytically inactive for a long time, is now a fascinating partner of modern chemistry, as scientists such as Bond, Teles, Haruta, Hutchings, Ito and Hayashi opened new perspectives for the whole synthetic chemist community. This book presents the major advances in homogeneous catalysis, emphasizing the methodologies that create carbon-carbon and carbon-heteroatom bonds, the applications that create diversity and synthesize natural products, and the recent advances and challenges in asymmetric catalysis and computational research.It provides readers with in-depth information about homogeneous gold-catalyzed reactions and presents several explanations for the scientific design of a catalyst. Readers will be able to understand the entire gold area and find solutions to problems in catalysis.Gold Catalysis — An Homogeneous Approach is part of the Catalytic Science Series and features prominent authors who are experts in their respective fields.

Ana Escribano Cuesta's thesis presents a detailed study of the inter- and intramolecular reactions of carbonyl compounds with 1,6-enynes using gold (I) complexes. An important part of the work involved streamlining the variables that allow the selective synthesis of different products such as tricyclic compounds, dihydropyrans, 1,3-dienes or cyclobutenes. The second chapter highlights the importance and difficulties in synthesising a cyclobutene subunit and the author includes a detailed description of how the products were prepared. The final chapter outlines the synthesis of lundurines using methodology developed by the author's research group for intramolecular gold-catalyzed cyclization of indoles with alkynes. The lundurine products developed in this work show significant in vitro cytoxicity toward B16 melanoma cells. The work in this thesis has led to a number of publications in high-profile chemistry journals.