Synthesis and characterization of triarylgoldzinc compounds

Abstract

The reactions of diphenylzinc and di- p-tolylzinc with gold(I) and gold(III) salts yield dimeric species of the type (Ar 3AuZn) 2. On the basis of spectroscopic data and physical measurements a cyclic structure is proposed which contains both aryl groups exclusively bound to zinc and aryl groups bridging between gold and zinc. Upon reaction with bidentate nitrogen-containing ligand molecules, complexes of the type Ar 3AuZnL are obtained which probably have an “ate”-like structure, ArZn +LAu -Ar 2. In reactions with phosphorus-containing ligand molecules, the Ar 3AuZn compounds are cleaved to give ArAuL complexes. This difference in behaviour is discussed in terms of the differing affinities of gold and zinc for N- and P-donor molecules.