The
synthesis, X-ray crystal structures, and spectroscopic studies of
a series of PPh2N(2,6-iPr2C6H3)PPh2 (PNP) and PPh2N(2,6-iPr2C6H3)BCy2 (PNB; Cy = cyclohexyl) based gold(I) complexes are presented herein.
The gold(I) chloride complexes 2 and 6 were
treated with AgSbF6 to yield the corresponding dimeric
dinuclear AuI cation (3) and dimeric mononuclear
AuI cation (7) with PNP and PNB systems, respectively.
The molecular structure of 3 revealed the presence of
a strong intramolecular aurophilic interaction with a Au···Au
bond distance of 2.7944(19) Å, one of the shortest aurophilic
interactions known in the literature. However, complex 7 displays no aurophilic interaction. The reaction of 3 with diphenyl disulfide was performed, which led to a multinuclear
tetragold(I) complex (4), keeping the aurophilic interaction
intact. The effect of an aurophilic interaction is also illustrated
through the study of the luminescent properties of these gold(I) complexes.
Complexes 3 and 4 exhibit luminescence in
solution as well as in the solid state, whereas the other gold(I)
complexes remain nonluminescent.