EuCOMC Poster Award to Ekaterina Smirnova

Ekaterina Smirnova talking about her work during the poster session at EuCOMC XXI

Ekaterina Smirnova, PhD student in Echavarren’s group, has received the EuCOMC XXI Poster Award for her poster entitled ‘Intriguing Reactivity of a Linear Tetranuclear Gold(I) Complex’.

The poster describes linear tetranuclear gold(I) complex with 2,6-bis(diphenylphosphino)pyridine (DPPPY) as ligand that is a catalyst for the 1,6-enyne cycloisomerization, the formation of 2-substituted indenes from alkynyl cycloheptatrienes, as well as for the hydration of phenylacetylene. Interestingly, this complex was found to react with acetone and cyclic 1,3-diketones to form tetranuclear enolate gold(I) complexes with a rectangular geometry of the gold(I) centers. Moreover, this  linear tetranuclear gold(I)complex hydrolyzed acetonitrile to acetate in the presence of Ag₂O or Cu₂O to form pentanuclear heterometallic complexes with silver and copper, which are catalysts for the carbonylation of primary amines, in a simple and enviromentally friendly route for the preparation of urea derivatives.