Abstract Gold (I) salts are found to mediate the decarboxylation of a variety of aromatic and heteroaromatic carboxylic acids at significatively lower temperatures (as low as 60 C) than the currently used copper (I)(180–190 C) and silver (I)(80–140 C) systems. In contrast to silver (I)-and copper (I)-mediated decarboxylations, the resulting aryl-gold (I) complexes are stable towards protodemetallation and can be readily isolated.
