July 8, 2014

Highly Reactive Gold Carbene Complex Shines in Emerald Green


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Heidelberg chemists succeed in isolating carbon-gold compound of “amazing stability”

With a chemical “trick”, scientists at Heidelberg University have succeeded in isolating a stable gold carbene complex. Chemist Prof. Dr. Bernd F. Straub and his team are the first to have created the basis for directly examining the otherwise unstable gold-carbon double bond. Prof. Straub explains that highly reactive gold carbene molecules play an important role in landmark catalysing processes taking place at high speed.