Gold-Catalyzed Oxidative Coupling Reactions

In this work, a gold-catalyzed oxidative coupling of alkenes with aryltrimethylsilanes is disclosed. Using trimethylsilanes instead of boronic acids reduces homocoupling byproducts and allows intramolecular coupling reactions. ­Furthermore, the scope of functional groups on the coupling partners can be expanded considerably, and substitution is tolerated in para, meta, and ortho positions.