Reactions of Gold(I) Acetylides
Organometallics, Vol. 27, No. 24, 2008 6425
spectrometer operating at 500.13 MHz for 1H. IR: BIO-RAD FTS-
40A. Elemental analyses: microanalytical laboratory of the Uni-
versity of Kassel.
1,12-C2B10H10}]. The structure of [{Au-Ct C-C(CH2)Me}2(µ-
5)], which seems to be the closest structurally characterized
relative of [(Au-Ct C-Fc)2(µ-5)], also exhibits centrosym-
metric molecules. Aurophilic interactions are absent in both
cases, which is probably due to the steric bulk of the acetylide
ligands. In the structure of [(AuCl)2(µ-5)], which contains
the much less bulky chloro ligand, two crystallographically
independent molecules are present. One of them exhibits
crystallographically imposed inversion symmetry with exactly
staggered cyclopentadienyl rings, too. In contrast to the two
acetylide complexes [(Au-Ct C-Fc)2(µ-5)] and [{Au-Ct C-
C(CH2)Me}2(µ-5)], particularly short intermolecular Au · · · Au
distances of 3.083(1) Å are observed in this case.53 With the
di(acetylide) ligand (Ct C-CH2O-p-C6H4)2SO2, which is
unbranched at the R-carbon atom and therefore “leaner” than
Ct C-C(CH2)Me and Ct C-Fc, aurophilic aggregation to
dimeric units has been observed.56 However, the Au · · · Au
distance of 3.1488(7) Å is still longer than that of the chloro
complex [(AuCl)2(µ-5)].
[Au(Ct C-p-C6H4CF3)]n (2a). HCt C-p-C6H4CF3 (255 mg, 1.5
mmol) and NEt3 (730 mg, 7.3 mmol) were added sequentially to a
stirred solution of [AuCl(SMe2)] (442 mg, 1.5 mmol) in dichlo-
romethane (20 mL) at 0 °C. The solution was stirred for 1 h. Cold
methanol (20 mL) was added and the mixture was stirred at 0 °C
for a further 2 h. The pale yellow precipitate was isolated by
centrifugation and dried in vacuo at 0 °C. Yield: 210 mg (38%).
Anal. Calcd for C9H4AuF3 (366.1): C, 29.53; H, 1.10. Found: C,
29.31; H, 1.06. IR (cm-1): ν(Ct C) 2003 (w).
[Au(Ct C-p-C6H4NMe2)]n (2d). HCt C-p-C6H4NMe2 (218 mg,
1.5 mmol) and NEt3 (300 mg, 3.0 mmol) were added sequentially
to a stirred solution of [AuCl(SMe2)] (442 mg, 1.5 mmol) in
dichloromethane (20 mL). After 30 min the yellow precipitate was
filtered off, washed with methanol (5 mL) and diethyl ether (5 mL),
and dried in vacuo. Yield: 470 mg (92%). Anal. Calcd for
C10H10AuN (341.2): C, 35.21; H, 2.95; N, 4.11. Found: C, 35.28;
H, 2.98; N, 3.92. IR (cm-1): ν(Ct C) 1999 (w).
[{Au(Ct C-p-C6H4R)}2(µ-1)] (3). General procedure: A solution
of 1 (50 mg, 0.21 mmol) in dichloromethane (10 mL) was added
to a stirred suspension of the respective gold(I) acetylide (2) (0.42
mmol; a 155 mg, b 126 mg, c 140 mg, d 145 mg) in dichlo-
romethane (50 mL). The mixture was stirred for 14 h. The product
was isolated by cannula filtration, washed with methanol (10 mL)
and diethyl ether (10 mL), and dried in vacuo.
Conclusion
The reaction of the gold(I) acetylides [Au(Ct C-p-C6H4R)]n
(2a R ) CF3, 2b R ) H, 2c R ) OMe, 2d R ) NMe2) with
1,1′-diisocyanoferrocene (1) proceeds in an “orthodox” way,
affording the respective dinuclear gold complexes [{Au(Ct C-
p-C6H4R)}2(µ-1)] (3). The molecules exhibit an eclipsed con-
formation with an intramolecular aurophilic contact in conjunc-
tion with an antiparallel orientation of neighboring molecules
in the crystal. The intramolecular Au · · · Au distance correlates
with the electron-donating properties of the substituent R (CF3
< H < OMe), while the corresponding intermolecular
distances show the opposite trend. Curiously, the product of
the reaction of 1 with [Au(Ct C-Fc)]n (2e, Fc ) ferrocenyl)
is the hexanuclear gold cluster [(Fc-Ct C-Au-Ct N-
C5H4)Fe{C5H4-NdC(Au)-Ct C-Fc}]3, whose formation is
based on a different specific reaction of the two chemically
equivalent functional groups of 1 with 2e, viz., coordination
and 1,1-insertion. This “unorthodox” behavior appears schiz-
oid and constitutes a novel variant of induced reaction
asymmetry. Systematic investigations, including quantum-
chemical calculations, are currently underway to shed more
light on this phenomenon.
3a. Yield: 115 mg (56%). IR (cm-1): ν(Nt C) 2192 (s), ν(Ct C)
1
2115 (m). H NMR (CD2Cl2): δ 7.32 (d, J ) 8.0 Hz, 4 H, C6H4),
7.28 (d, J ) 8.0 Hz, 4 H, C6H4), 4.93 (s, 4 H, C5H4), 4.49 (s, 4 H,
C5H4). Anal. Calcd for C30H16Au2F6FeN2 · 0.5CH2Cl2 (1010.7): C,
36.25; H, 1.70; N 2.77. Found: C, 35.78; H, 1.54; N 2.48.
3b. Yield: 71 mg (40%). IR (cm-1): ν(Nt C) 2203 (s), ν(Ct C)
1
2121 (m). H NMR (CD2Cl2): δ 7.30 (s, 2 H, Ph), 7.13 (s, 8 H,
Ph), 4.94 (s, 4 H, C5H4), 4. 47 (s, 4 H, C5H4). Anal. Calcd for for
C28H18Au2FeN2 · 0.5CH2Cl2 (874.7): C, 39.13; H, 2.19; N, 3.20.
Found: C, 39.27; H, 2.81; N, 3.08.
3c. Yield: 117 mg (61%). IR (cm-1): ν(Nt C) 2204 (s), ν(Ct C)
1
2123 (w). H NMR (CD2Cl2): δ 7.24 (d, J ) 9.0 Hz, 4 H, C6H4),
6.65 (d, J ) 9.0 Hz, 4 H, C6H4), 4.93 (s, 4 H, C5H4), 4. 47 (s, 4 H,
C5H4), 3.72 (s,
6 H, Me). Anal. Calcd for C30H22Au2-
FeN2O2 · 0.5CH2Cl2 (934.8): C, 39.19; H, 2.48; N, 3.00. Found: C,
39.26; H, 2.37; N, 2.92.
3d. Yield: 129 mg (66%). IR (cm-1): ν(Nt C) 2192 (s), ν(Ct C)
1
2115 (m). H NMR (CD2Cl2): δ 7.19 (d, J ) 9.0 Hz, 4 H, C6H4),
6.47 (d, J ) 9.0 Hz, 4 H, C6H4), 4.92 (s, 4H, C5H4), 4.47 (s, 4 H,
C5H4), 2.89 (s, 12 H, Me). Anal. Calcd for C32H28Au2-
FeN4 · 0.5CH2Cl2 (960.9): C, 40.62; H, 3.04; N, 5.83. Found: C,
40.58; H, 3.03; N, 5.89.
Experimental Section
General Procedures. All reactions were performed in an inert
atmosphere (dinitrogen) by using standard Schlenk techniques
or a conventional glovebox. 1,1′-Diisocyanoferrocene (1)17a and
[AuCl(SMe2)]57 were prepared according to published procedures.
The gold(I) acetylides [Au(Ct C-Ph)]n (2b)2a and [Au(Ct C-p-
C6H4OMe)]n (2c)22 were prepared by slight variation of a published
method,23 which is detailed below for the new compounds 2a and
2d. Preparative details for [Au(Ct C-Fc)]n (2e) and (4)3 have already
been communicated.18 Solvents and reagents were procured from
standard commercial sources. NMR: Varian Unity INOVA 500
[(Au-Ct C-Fc)2(µ-5)] (6). Dppf (5) (110 mg, 0.2 mmol) was
added to a stirred suspension of 2e (160 mg, 0.4 mmol) in
dichloromethane (50 mL). The mixture was stirred for 3 h. The
slightly turbid solution was filtered to remove traces of insoluble
material. The volume of the filtrate was reduced in vacuo to ca.
10 mL. The product was precipitated by slow addition of diethyl
ether (10 mL). Yield: 242 mg (89%). IR (cm-1): ν(Ct C) 2110
1
(w). H NMR (CDCl3): δ 7.36-7.28 (m, 20 H, Ph), 4.44 (s, 4
H, C5H4), 4. 36 (s, 4 H, C5H4), 4.21 (s, 10 H, Cp), 4.11 (s, 4 H,
C5H4), 4.05 (s, 4 H, C5H4). 13C{1H} NMR (CDCl3): δ 133.6 (d,
J ) 15.5 Hz), 131.6, 131.2 (d, J ) 10.0 Hz), 130.4, 128.6, (d,
J ) 9.5 Hz), 128.2 (d, J ) 12.1 Hz), 102.2, 98.7, 82.0, 81.6,
74.5 (d, J ) 12.7 Hz), 73.4 (d, J ) 12.3 Hz), 71.8, 69.9, 67.8.
31P{1H} NMR (CDCl3): δ 24.8. Anal. Calcd for C58H46Au2Fe3P2
(1366.4): C, 50.98; H, 3.39. Found: C, 51.56; H, 3.92.
(56) Mohr, F.; Jennings, M. C.; Puddephatt, R. J. Eur. J. Inorg. Chem.
2003, 217–223.
(57) (a) Ahmad, S.; Isab, A. A.; Perzenowski, H. P.; Hussain, M. S.;
Akhtar, M. N. Transition Met. Chem. 2002, 27, 177–183. (b) Dash, K. C.;
Schmidbaur, H. Chem. Ber. 1973, 106, 1221–1225.
(58) X-red Ver. 1.06, Program for numerical absorption correction; Stoe
& Cie: Darmstadt, 2004.
(59) Sheldrick, G. M. SHELXS 97 and SHELXL 97, Programs for crystal
structure solution and refinement; University of Go¨ttingen: Germany, 1997.
(60) Farrugia, L. J. J. Appl. Crystallogr. 1999, 32, 837–838.
X-ray Crystallography. For each data collection a single
crystal was mounted on a glass fiber and all geometric and
intensity data were taken from this sample. Data collection using