Gold Chemistry: The Aurophilic Attraction

Abstract

The aurophilic attraction or aurophilia is an empirically found phenomenon consisting of a weak attractive force between gold atoms that is, nevertheless, as strong as hydrogen bonds. This phenomenon produces, inter alia, shorter intramolecular and intermolecular distances than expected between gold centers and unexpected geometries.

Theoretical study of the d10–d8 interaction between Au(I) and Au(III) on the cis/trans-[PH3Au(I)C(L)C(L)Au(III)(R)2PH3] (R=–H, –CH3; L=–H, –CH3) systems

“…Also, in order to estimate the intermolecular d 8 -d 10 interaction, we included two reduced models with the general formula [PH 3 Au(I)R][PH 3 Au(III) (R) 3 ]. These compounds are showed in Fig.…”

“…However, this is not the case for certain inorganic and organometallic compounds, where experimental and theoretical evidence exists for attractive interactions between cations with d 8 -d 10 -s 2 configurations at both intra-and intermolecular levels [1][2][3][4][5]. It is worth noting that these interactions are weaker than covalent or ionic bonds, but stronger than other van der Waals bonds.…”

“…This suggests that an aurophilic interaction is present in this complex. Also, other clusters with short Au(I)-Au(III) contacts that also show intramolecular interactions have been studied in the past, namely: [Se(AuPPh 3 ) 2 {Au(C 6 F 5 ) 3 } 2 ] and [Se{Au 2 (m-dppf)}{Au(C 6 F 5 ) 3 [18]. Moreover, Schwerdtfeger and co-workers [19] recently studied both the stability and the structure of cis/trans-(diphosphino)ethylene digold(I) halides.…”

Gold: Inorganic & Coordination Chemistry

“…In the absence of suitable single crystals for X-ray diffraction study, all the experimental data currently available support a cuboctahedral 55-atom gold cluster. 55 However, the largest gold cluster that has been unequivocally characterized in the solid state is [Au 39 (PPh 3 ) 14 Cl 6 ] 2+ formed by the reaction of HAuCl 4 with PPh 3 . 56 Recently, a fourth-generation dendrimer with 96 SH groups has been reacted with Au 55 (PPh 3 ) 12 Cl 6 in 3:1 molar ratio to prepare 'naked Au 55 ' clusters.…”

“…Gold(II) intermediates have been proposed for many redox reactions involving Au I -Au III interconversions, but they cannot usually be detected by ESR.The crystallographically characterized, neutral, and airsensitive complex of gold(II), [Au{S 2 C 2 (CN) 2 } 2 ] (13), which contains the maleonitriledithiolate ligand, has square-planar geometry. An air-stable octahedral Au II complex [AuL 2 ] (BF 4 ) 2 (L = 1, 4, 7-trithiacyclononane)(14) is obtained from the reaction of K[AuCl 4 ] with L 34. …”