Comparing Metal-Halide and -Oxygen Adducts in Oxidative C/O-H Activation: AuIII-Cl versus AuIII-OH.

High-valent metal-halides have come to prominence as highly effective oxidants. A direct comparison of their efficacy against that of traditional metal-oxygen adducts is needed. [AuIII(Cl)(terpy)](ClO4)2 (1; terpy = 2,2':6',2-terpyridine) readily oxidized substrates bearing O-H and C-H bonds via a hydrogen atom transfer mechanism. A direct comparison with [AuIII(OH)(terpy)](ClO4)2 (2) showed that 1 was a kinetically superior oxidant with respect to 2 for all substrates tested. We ascribe this to the greater thermodynamic driving force imbued by the Cl ligand versus the OH ligand.