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Updated: Oct 21, 2025

From Molecules to Materials: Engineering New Ionic Liquid Crystals Through Halogen Bonding
Published on: March 24, 2018
Isolation and reactivity of a gold(I) hydroxytrifluoroborate complex stabilized by anion-π+ interactions
Jiliang Zhou1, Elishua D Litle1, François P Gabbaï1
1Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843, USA. francois@tamu.edu.
Abstract:
A 9,9-dimethylxanthene-based ligand substituted at the 4- and 5-positions by a phosphine and a xanthylium unit, respectively, has been prepared and converted into an AuCl complex, the structure of which reveals an intramolecular Au-Cl⋯π+ interaction. This new ligand platform was also found to support the formation of an unprecedented hydroxytrifluoroborate derivative featuring a "hard/soft" mismatched Au-μ(OH)-BF3 motif. Despite its surprising stability, this gold hydroxytrifluoroborate complex is a remarkably potent carbophilic catalyst which readily activates alkynes, without activator.
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