Steroid Derived Mesoionic Gold and Silver Mono- and Polymetallic Carbenes.

A two-step synthesis of gold mesoionic carbene complexes containing estrone moieties has been developed. The method uses the methylation of the triazole nucleus, followed by the treatment of the triazolium salt with Ag2O and transmetalation with [AuCl(SMe2)]. Mono-, bi-, tri-, and tetrametallic gold complexes can be obtained depending on the structure of the starting triazolium salts. Tetrametallic gold carbene embedded in a macrocylic stereoidal cavity containing four estrone nuclei has been also prepared. Additionally, the mono- and bimetallic silver carbene complexes containing triazole-steroid ligands have been isolated and characterized. These complexes resulted to be stable and have been characterized by spectroscopic and HRMS techniques. The gold and silver complexes having triazole-steroid ligands are unprecedented in the literature and the method reported here to access to these compounds is easy and efficient. Preliminary results regarding the catalytic activity of some of the gold-carbenes prepared in the insertion of diazoalkanes into alcohols are presented.