08/2012

The Musaev group have collaborated with the Liebeskind group to gain a greater mechanistic insight into the aerobic copper-catalyzed cross coupling of S-acyl thiosalicylamide thio esters and boronic acids.

DFT has been used to elucidate the nature of the active species, with the thiol ester coordinated to the copper via the two oxygen atoms. Futhermore, a critical role for the anion in the reaction was identified.