American Journal of Applied Chemistry 2017; 5(4): 58-61 http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/j/sjc doi: 10.11648/j.sjc.20170504.13 ISSN: 2330-0981 (Print); ISSN: 2330-099X (Online) Gold Chloride (AuCl 3 ) Catalyzed Expeditious Homocoupling of Terminal Alkynes at Ambient and Solvent Free Conditions: Impact of Sodium Acetate on the Reaction Yield Saleem Farooq 1 , Bashir Ahmad Dar 2, * , Mushtaq Ahmad Tantaray 1 , Mushtaq Ahmad Lone 1 , Nuzhat Rehman 1 1 Department of Chemistry, Govt. Degree College (Boys), Baramulla, India 2 Department of Chemistry, Govt. Degree College (Boys), Sopore, India Email address: basher_15_dar@yahoo.com (B. A. Dar) * Corresponding author To cite this article: Saleem Farooq, Bashir Ahmad Dar, Mushtaq Ahmad Tantaray, Mushtaq Ahmad Lone, Nuzhat Rehman. Gold Chloride (AuCl 3 ) Catalyzed Expeditious Homocoupling of Terminal Alkynes at Ambient and Solvent Free Conditions: Impact of Sodium Acetate on the Reaction Yield. American Journal of Applied Chemistry. Vol. 5, No. 4, 2017, pp. 58-61. doi: 10.11648/j.sjc.20170504.13 Received: July 2, 2017; Accepted: July 12, 2017; Published: August 30, 2017 Abstract: Homocoupling of terminal alkynes to 1, 3-diynes has been investigated, using AuCl 3 as catalyst under mild and operationally simple conditions. Effect of different organic and inorganic bases on the product yield and the reaction time were also studied. The catalyst is efficient, furnishes good to excellent yield of the desired products with organic bases and Sodium acetate was found to be the most effective base under solvent free conditions at room temperature. Keywords: Gold Trichloride, Homocoupling, Terminal Alkyne, Diyne 1. Introduction C-C bond formation is the essence of organic synthesis [1], provides the basis for generating more complicated organic molecules from simpler ones. Diyne compounds have received significant attention because of their applications not only in material chemistry but also in the formation of valuable intermediates for natural products [2] and pharmaceuticals such as antitumor [3], anti-inflammatory [4] and antifungal agents [5]. As the emerging importance much interest has been paid for the development of new and efficient methods for the synthesis of diynes [6]. Although several routes are available for the synthesis of conjugated 1, 3- diynes, i.e. the homocoupling of terminal alkynes is favoured due to its simple procedure [7] Common methods used for the synthesis of 1, 3-diynes include Glaser coupling [8], Eglinton coupling [9], Hay coupling [10], mediated by copper-catalyzed oxidative homocoupling reaction of terminal alkynes [11] and Palladium-assisted Glaser type coupling reactions [12]. The most striking routes for the homocoupling of terminal alkynes involve palladium (Pd) in combination with copper salts as catalytic systems, but palladium based reagents are toxic and often require ambiguous complex formation with expensive ligands. Several groups have reported homocoupling reactions of terminal alkynes using Pd free catalytic systems, e.g. Jiang et al. reported the Cu(II) promoted oxidative homocoupling reaction of terminal alkynes in supercritical carbon dioxide and Jia et al. have described the CuI-mediated alkyne homocoupling reaction, employing inorganic base as Na 2 CO 3 [13]. These Pd free systems are efficient and economic but require high pressure, high temperature, co-catalysts, excess amines and oxygen atmosphere and long reaction time. Some base free Cu- mediated alkyne homocoupling reaction, have also been reported [14], and even neat processes have also been developed for oxidative homocoupling reaction of terminal alkynes [15]. The use of transition metals mediated homocoupling reactions other than Pd and Cu for the synthesis of 1, 3-diynes are still limited [16]. During the last decade gold salt and its complexes have played an emerging role for activation of C-C multiple bonds toward a variety of nucleophiles [17]. Carbophilic Lewis-acid