Unexpected persistence of cis-bridged chains in compressed AuF3

Abstract

Raman scattering measurements indicate that cis-bridged chains are retained in AuF₃ even at a compression of 45 GPa – in contrast to meta-GGA calculations suggesting that structures with such motifs are thermodynamically unstable above 4 GPa. This metastability implies that novel gold fluorides (e.g. AuF₂) might be attainable at lower pressures than previously proposed.