The golden gate to catalysis

The use of gold in homogeneous catalysis is a relatively new field of transition metal catalysis, but has already witnessed spectacular achievements. By virtue of their unique ability to activate carbon-carbon double and triple bonds as soft, carbophilic Lewis acids, gold salts are highly efficient catalysts for the formation of C-C, C-O, C-N, and C-S bonds. Moreover, they are capable of activating C-H bonds of aromatic and other substrates, opening unprecedented pathways for their functionalisation. By using chiral allenes as substrates, gold catalysts can even be applied in stereoselective target-oriented synthesis.