Structures and properties of gold(I) complexes of interest in biochemical applications

Gold(I) compounds have several potential roles in biologically related chemistry. The relatively low toxicity of gold and its lability allows human consumption of drugs formed with this element. Trinuclear and tetranuclear clusters look particularly interesting because of the strong basicity of the gold(I) centers in these molecules. Future studies are expected to lead to interesting new bio-related observations. The ability of gold(I) compounds to interact with themselves aurophilically and with other heavy element ions has produced spectroscopic properties which are sensitive to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other molecular interactions. Thus bio-applicability for sensing toxic components appears reasonable.