A tray-shaped, Pd(II)-clipped Au₃ complex as a scaffold for the modular assembly of [3×n] Au ion clusters

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2014 Oct 13;53(42):11186-9. doi: 10.1002/anie.201404892. Epub 2014 Aug 28.

Abstract

A tray-shaped Pd(II)3Au(I)3 complex (1) is prepared from 3,5-bis(3-pyridyl)pyrazole by means of tricyclization with Au(I) followed by Pd(II) clipping. Tray 1 is an efficient scaffold for the modular assembly of [3×n] Au(I) clusters. Treatment of 1 with the Au(I)3 tricyclic guest 2 in H2O/CH3CN (7:3) or H2O results in the selective formation of a [3×2] cluster (1⋅2) or a [3×3] cluster (1⋅2⋅1), respectively. Upon subsequent addition of Ag(I) ions, these complexes are converted to an unprecedented Au3-Au3-Ag-Au3-Au3 metal ion cluster.

Keywords: cluster compounds; gold; host-guest systems; silver; tray-shaped compounds.