Abstract:
Mercuric triflate or mercury(II) trifluoromethane sulfonate,Hg(CF3SO3)2 is a white powdery solid, hygroscopic in nature and soluble in water. It belongs to the chemical family of metal triflate compounds and is toxic upon inhalation,contact or ingestion. It has a melting point of
350 °C above which it decomposes to a mixture of carbonyl fluoride, carbon monoxide, hydrogen fluoride, sulfur
dioxide and metal salts. Mercuric triflate is
commercially available and can as well be prepared instantaneously by the reaction of mercury(II) oxide and triflic anhydride in acetonitrile (Scheme 1).1 Mercuric
triflate is a very versatile reagent2 and has been used for several organic catalytic transformations including C–C bond forming cyclizations, alkyne hydrations, heterocycle
synthesis and very recently in C–N bond forming reactions
