Database analysis of Au ⋯ Au interactions

Abstract

The geometry of gold–gold interactions in a group of 693 gold-containing crystal structures has been examined using data from the Cambridge Structural Database. These contacts occur in the range 2.50–4.00 Å. Intermolecular Au ⋯ Au contacts are formed by compounds of the type AuXY (X, Y = any element) with the X-Au–Au-Y conformation being either staggered or eclipsed. Clusters of the type Au_nZ (where Z is any element including Au) are characterised by a large number of short gold–gold contacts reflecting an approach towards Au⁰ in the interior of the cluster.