Gold(I) Formamidinate Clusters: The Structure, Luminescence, and Electrochemistry of the Tetranuclear, Base-Free [Au4(ArNC(H)NAr)4]

The structures of the tetragold(I) formamidinate cluster complexes, [Au₄(ArNC(H)NAr)₄], Ar=C₆H₄-4-OMe (1), C₆H₃-3,5-Cl (2), C₆H₄-4-Me (3), have been characterized by x-ray crystallography. The range of AuAu distances is 2.8–3.0 Å. The angles at AuAuAu are acute and obtuse 70 and 109°, 88 and 91°, and 63 and 116° in 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The four gold atoms are located at the corner of a rhomboid with the formamidinate ligands bridged above and below the near plane of the four Au(I) atoms. The tetranuclear gold(I) complexes show a bright blue-green luminescence under UV light, with an emission at 490 nm and a weak emission at 530 nm in the solid state, at room temp and 77 K. The oxidation of the formamidinate cluster, 1, has been studied electrochemically in 0.1 M Bu₄NPF₆/CH₂Cl₂ at a Pt working electrode with different scan rates. Three waves were obtained, 0.75, 0.95, and 1.09V vs. Ag/AgCl at a scan rate of 500 mV/s, the three waves are reversible. The potentials are independent of the scan rate in the range 50 mV/s to 3 V/s. The current at the third wave is larger than those at the first two.