Excited-state gold catalyzed activation of inert C–Cl bonds

Chloroalkanes have richer structures and cheaper costs than iodide/brominated compounds, while rarely used as electrophilic reagents for constructing C(sp³)–C(sp³) bonds due to their low reduction potential and strong bond dissociation energy. Recently, a new catalytic strategy involving dinuclear gold complexes has overcome this limitation. The photoinduced gold-catalyzed mode initiated the C(sp³)–Cl electrophilic activation, lead to the divergent conversion of chloroalkanes as chloroalkyl, alkyl cation and carbene equivalent precursor of carbon chain propagation, and involved a novel mechanism of inner-sphere SET process between dinuclear gold complex catalyst and chloroalkane.