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Does aurophilicity exist beyond the solid state?
Yury V Vishnevskiy1,2, Felix Müller1, Ivan Y Kurochkin3
1Lehrstuhl für Anorganische Chemie und Strukturchemie (ACS), Fakultät für Chemie, Universität Bielefeld, Universitätsstraße 25, 33615 Bielefeld, Germany. VishnevskiyYV@my.msu.ru.
Chemical Communications (Cambridge, England)
|July 1, 2026
Summary
The first gas-phase structure of a gold(I) dimer reveals shorter gold-gold bonds, confirming aurophilic attraction in molecular systems. Relativistic calculations support these experimental findings.
Area of Science:
- Inorganic Chemistry
- Organometallic Chemistry
- Physical Chemistry
Background:
- Aurophilic interactions, attractive forces between gold(I) centers, are crucial in understanding gold complex behavior.
- Previous evidence for these interactions primarily came from crystal structures, leaving their behavior in the gas phase unconfirmed.
Purpose of the Study:
- To experimentally determine the gas-phase structure of a ligand-supported gold(I) dimer.
- To provide direct evidence for aurophilic interactions in the gas phase.
- To validate computational methods for predicting these interactions.
Main Methods:
- Gas-phase electron diffraction was used to determine the molecular structure.
- High-level relativistic coupled-cluster calculations were performed for theoretical validation.
Main Results:
- The first experimental gas-phase structure of a gold(I) dimer exhibiting aurophilic Au(I)···Au(I) interactions was determined.
- The determined Au···Au contact in the gas phase was found to be shorter than in its corresponding crystal structure.
- Relativistic coupled-cluster calculations accurately reproduced the experimental gas-phase structural parameters.
Conclusions:
- Direct experimental evidence for aurophilic attraction in a ligand-supported molecular system was established in the gas phase.
- The study highlights the importance of considering gas-phase behavior for a comprehensive understanding of gold complex interactions.
- Accurate theoretical modeling can reliably predict gas-phase aurophilic interactions.
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