A report describing the effect of di-2-pyridyl ligand architecture on the coordination properties with gold(III)

► Di-2-pyridyl ligands linked by different groups exhibited varying coordination to gold(III). ► Di-2-pyridyl sulfide (DPS) (3) exhibited bidentate binding to gold(III). ► Di-2-pyridyl ether (DPO) (4) formed a neutral monodentate coordination complex with gold(III). ► Attempts to make gold(III) complexes with di-2-pyridyl ketone (DPK) (5) were unsuccessful. ► The coordination environments of compounds 3-5 were confirmed by X-ray crystallography.