The asymmetric oxidation of sulfides to chiral sulfoxides with hydrogen peroxide in good yield and high enantioselectivity has been catalyzed very effectively by chiral vanadium-salan [N,N'-alkyl bis(salicylamine)] complex. The salan ligand shows results superior in terms of reactivity and enantioselectivity to those of salen [N,N'-alkylene bis(salicylideneimine)] analogue, and provides the sulfoxide with opposite configuration. The high enantioselectivity of this reaction is the direct result of the asymmetric oxidation. The efficient kinetic resolution of racemic sulfoxides catalyzed by the vanadium-salan system is also described.

Reported herein is the unprecedented gold-catalyzed formal [4+1]/[4+3] cycloadditions of diazo esters with hexahydro-1,3,4-triazines, thus providing five- and seven-membered heterocycles in moderate to high yields under mild reaction conditions. These reactions feature the use of a gold complex to accomplish the diverse annulations and the first example of the involvement of a gold metallo-enolcarbene in a cycloaddition. It is also the first utilization of stable triazines as formal dipolar adducts in the carbene-involved cycloadditions. Mechanistic investigations reveal that the triazines reacted directly, rather than as formaldimine precursors, in the reaction process.

A gold(I)-catalyzed cross-coupling of diazo compounds to afford tetrasubstituted alkenes has been developed by taking advantage of a trivial electronic difference between two diazo substrates. A N-heterocyclic-carbene-derived gold complex is the most effective catalyst for this transformation. Based on this new strategy, a gold(I)-initiated benzannulation has been achieved through a tandem reaction involving a diazo cross-coupling, 6π electrocyclization, and oxidative aromatization.