title: Synthesis and structure of a dinuclear gold(II) complex with terminal fluoride ligands.
abstract: The potential for reductive elimination of fluorine from dinuclear gold(II) for catalysis has prompted our efforts to synthesize a dinuclear gold(II) fluoride complex. This has been achieved with bis(2,6-dimethylphenyl)formamidinate bridging ligands. In order to obtain this product, it was necessary first to synthesize the corresponding dinuclear gold(II) nitrate, which reacts readily with KF in a metathesis reaction. The nitrate complex and fluoride complexes have been structurally characterized. The Au-Au distance in the dinuclear fluoride, 2.595 Å, is longer than the distance found in the analogous chloride complex, 2.567 Å. This result is consistent with the presence of a fluoride "π electron effect" on the filled Au 5d orbitals. The Raman spectrum shows an Au-Au stretch at 206 cm(-1), which agrees with Woodruff's rules and the density functional theory computational model used for modeling the complex.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843, USA.
authors.forename: Doris Y
authors.initials: DY
authors.lastname: Melgarejo
authors.forename: Gina M
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Chiarella
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Fackler
authors.forename: Lisa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Perez
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rodrigue-Witchel
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Reber