Tetrazol-5-ylidene Gold(III) Complexes from Sequential [2 + 3] Cycloaddition of Azide to Metal-Bound Isocyanides and N4 Alkylation

The reaction between equimolar amounts of the isocyanide complexes [AuCl3(CNR)] [R = 2,6-Me2C6H3 (Xyl), 1a; 2,4,6-Me3C6H2 (Mes), 1b; Cy, 1c; t-Bu, 1d] and tetrabutylammonium azide (2) proceeds in CH2Cl2 at room temperature for ∼10 min to furnish the gold(III) tetrazolates [n-Bu4N][AuCl3(CN4R)] (3a–d), which were obtained in 89–95% yields after purification. Subsequent reaction between equimolar amounts of 3a–d and methyl trifluoromethanesulfonate (MeOTf) proceeds in CH2Cl2 at −70 °C for ∼30 min to give the corresponding gold(III) complexes [AuCl3(CaN(Me)N2NbR)]a–b (5a–d) bearing 1,4-disubstituted tetrazol-5-ylidene ligands (69–75%). Complexes 3a–d were obtained as pale-yellow solids and characterized by elemental analyses (C, H, N), HRESI–-MS, FTIR, and 1H and 13C{1H} NMR spectroscopies. Complexes 5a–d were obtained as colorless solids and characterized by elemental analyses (C, H, N), HRESI+-MS, and 1D (1H and 13C{1H}) and 2D (1H,13C-HMBC) NMR spectroscopies. In addition, the structures of 3a, 3b, 3c, an...