Synthesis of Gold(I)−Trifluoromethyl Complexes and their Role in Generating Spectroscopic Evidence for a Gold(I)−Difluorocarbene Species

Abstract Readily prepared and bench‐stable [Au(CF 3 )(NHC)] compounds were synthesized by using new methods, starting from [Au(OH)(NHC)], [Au(Cl)(NHC)] or [Au(L)(NHC)]HF 2 precursors (NHC=N‐heterocyclic carbene). The mechanism of formation these species was investigated. Consequently, a straightforward strategy for the mild selective cleavage single carbon/fluorine bond complexes attempted found to be reversible in presence an additional nucleophilic fluoride source. This technique has led unprecedented spectroscopic observation gold(I)−NHC difluorocarbene species.