Silver- and Acid-Free Catalysis by Polyoxometalate-Assisted Phosphanegold(I) Species for Hydration of Diphenylacetylene

Abstract

A DMSO-soluble intercluster compound consisting of a tetra{phosphanegold(I)}oxonium cation and an α-Keggin polyoxometalate (POM) anion, [{Au(PPh3)}4(μ4-O)]3[α-PW12O40]2 (1), was found to be an effective precatalyst for the silver- and acid-free catalysis of diphenylacetylene hydration (0.67 mol % catalyst; conversions 36.1%, 55.2%, and 93.7% after 4, 6, and 24 h reactions, respectively). The reaction proceeded in the suspended system in 6 mL of 1,4-dioxane/water (4:1) at 80 °C because of the low solubility of 1. Similar POM-based phosphanegold(I) compounds [{{Au(PPh3)}4(μ4-O)}{{Au(PPh3)}3(μ3-O)}][α-PW12O40]·EtOH (5), which is composed of a heptakis{triphenylphosphanegold(I)}dioxonium cation and an α-Keggin POM anion, and [Au(CH3CN)(PPh3)]3[α-PMo12O40] (6), which consists of an acid-free monomeric phosphanegold(I) acetonitrile cation and an α-Keggin molybdo-POM anion, also exhibited acid-free catalysis for the hydration of diphenylacetylene. An induction period was observed in the catalysis by 5. On the ot...