Gold complexes are powerful catalysts for the reaction of many functional groups, and have the advantage of being air- and moisture-tolerant. We used both Au(I) and Au(III) complexes to activate epoxy esters for conversion to lactones. The nature of the ester group and ring size were examined. The lactone products were produced in moderate to good yields. A plausible mechanism is proposed.

Gold-catalyzed reactions of epoxy esters

255th National Meeting (2018)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.