Aurophilic Interactions in Cationic Three-Coordinate Gold(I) Bipyridyl/Isocyanide Complex

Abstract

Gold(I) isocyanide complexes featuring Au---Au interactions attract considerable attention because of their tunable photophysical properties. Although the synthetic exploration of isocyanide gold(I) complexes seems reasonable, their structural diversity is mainly limited to linear gold(I) derivatives. The synthesis and structural characterization of cationic three-coordinate gold(I) mixed 22-bipyridyl/isocyanide complex are presented here for the first time. Cationic gold species form supramolecular dimers in the solid state via attractive Au---Au interactions. The nature and energies of aurophilic contacts, which are responsible for dimerization in the solid state, were studied by DFT calculations together with QTAIM, ELF, RDG, and NCI techniques and Hirshfeld surface analysis. The estimated energy of the aurophilic interactions was 6.3 kcal/mol.