The effect of carbon chain length of the diphosphine ligand on the aurophilic interaction. Synthesis and X-ray structural study for a series of Au(I) compounds with Ph2P-R-PPh2 and S-(CH2)n-py ligands

A series of (Au-SR)2(μ-diphos) compounds have been synthesized and their structures have been determined by single crystal X-ray analysis. Among them, 2-S-py ligand contracts Au-Au distances for diphosphines with CC and C-C backbones. Intramolecular C-H⋯N(py) interaction works cooperatively for this short Au-Au contact in (Au-2-S-py)2(μ-t-dpen).