Structural Switching in Luminescent Polynuclear Gold Imidoyl Complexes by Intramolecular Hydrogen Bonding

Abstract

A subtle interplay of covalent bond, hydrogen bond, aurophilic interactions, and steric hindrance controls the nuclearity and the luminescent properties of [Au{2-PyN C(E)Me}]n (E = O, NH) complexes. For E = O a molecular structure with n = 4 is formed, describing a 20-membered tetrametallacycle. For E = NH the structure formed shows a trigonal prismatic arrangement of six gold atoms formed by gold−gold interactions between two gold triangles (n = 3 × 2). Both complexes display luminescent properties.