CuAAC Click Reactions in the Gas Phase: Unveiling the Reactivity of Bis-Copper Intermediates

Copper-catalysed azide alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC) has been considered a breakthrough transformation over the last 15 years. Its debated mechanism arouses continuously growing interest. By means of a mass spectrometer modified ad hoc, the entire catalytic cycle of CuAAC reaction has been investigated in the gas phase. Ion-molecule reactions were performed inside the mass spectrometer to reproduce step-by-step, at a molecular level, the complete catalytic cycle of the click reaction. We successfully challenged the reactivity of elusive mono- and bis-copper intermediates by ion-molecule reactions leading to the production of mass-characterized triazole products, paving the way for detailed energetic studies to be performed in the gas phase. The structures of the relevant species, calculated at a DFT level, helped rationalise our experimental results.