Acidic Co-Catalysts in Cationic Gold Catalysis.

A systematic study on the effects of Lewis or Bronsted acid co-catalysts in gold-catalyzed reactions was undertaken using representative reactions (O-, N-, and C-nucleophilic additions to alkynes). Through these reactions, it was demonstrated that an acidic co-catalyst can increase the catalyst turnover significantly, enabling practical reaction rates at competitive catalyst loadings (<1 mol %). Further investigation is currently underway to improve the understanding of the subtle principles underlying these experimental observations.