A Gold(I)-Acetylene Complex Synthesised using Single-Crystal Reactivity

Chloe L Johnson; Daniel J Storm; Muhammad Arif Sajjad; Matthew R Gyton; Simon B Duckett; Stuart A Macgregor; Andrew S Weller; Miquel Navarro; Jesus Campos

doi:10.1002/anie.202404264

A Gold(I)-Acetylene Complex Synthesised using Single-Crystal Reactivity

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2024 May 3:e202404264. doi: 10.1002/anie.202404264. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Chloe L Johnson¹, Daniel J Storm², Muhammad Arif Sajjad², Matthew R Gyton¹, Simon B Duckett¹, Stuart A Macgregor², Andrew S Weller¹, Miquel Navarro³, Jesus Campos⁴

Affiliations

¹ University of York, Department of Chemistry, UNITED KINGDOM.
² University of St Andrews, EaSTCHEM School of Chemistry, UNITED KINGDOM.
³ Spanish Scientific Research Council, IIQ, SPAIN.
⁴ Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Institute of Chemical Research, Av. Americo Vespucio 49, Isla de la, 41092, Sevilla, SPAIN.

PMID: 38699962
DOI: 10.1002/anie.202404264

Abstract

Using single-crystal to single-crystal solid/gas reactivity the gold(I) acetylene complex [Au(L1)(η2-HC≡CH)][BArF4] is cleanly synthesized by addition of acetylene gas to single crystals of [Au(L1)(CO)][BArF4] [L1 = tris-2-(4,4'-di-tert-butylbiphenyl)phosphine, ArF = 3,5-(CF3)2C6H3]. This simplest gold-alkyne complex has been characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction, solution and solid-state NMR spectroscopy and periodic DFT. Bonding of HC≡CH with [Au(L1)]+ comprises both σ-donation and π-backdonation with additional dispersion interactions within the cavity-shaped phosphine.

Keywords: acetylene; bulky phosphine; gold(I); ligand cavity; solid-state organometallic.