Silver and gold salts and complexes mainly act as soft and carbophilic Lewis acids even if their use as σ-activators has been rarely reported. Recently, transformations involving Au(I)/Au(III)-redox catalytic systems have been reported in the literature. In this review we highlight all these aspects of silver and gold-mediated processes and their application in multicomponent reactions.

Two original macrocyclic silver(I)(pyridine-containing ligand) complexes [Ag(I)(Pc-L)] were synthesized and characterized. Their ability to catalyze the coupling among aldehydes, terminal alkynes and amines (A³-coupling) was demonstrated. The reaction could be performed under conventional as well as dielectric heating. The catalysts were effective in both cases, but dielectric heating allowed a lower catalyst loading and reduced ratio among reaction partners in shorter reaction times. The reaction scope was broad, including aryl/alkyl aldehydes, aryl/alkyl acetylenes and secondary aliphatic amines. Some unprecedented propargylamines have been prepared. The new catalytic system was also tested with more challenging coupling partners such as aniline and ketones.

The synthesis of 3-substituted-1-alkoxyisochromenes starting from 2-alkynylbenzaldehydes and different alcohols is reported. The reaction is catalyzed by a silver(I) complex with an original macrocyclic pyridine-containing ligand. The approach is characterized by absolute regioselectivity, mild reaction conditions, good to excellent reaction yields, cleanness of the reaction, and reduced purification steps. The reaction mechanism was investigated by in-depth ¹H NMR experiments and an aimed “trapping” experiment.