121 Jourtiai of Organometaikc Chemistry, 396 (1990) 121-128 Elsevier Sequoia .%A., Lausanne zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA JOM 21001 zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFEDCBA 2,4,6-Trifluorophenyl gold(I) and gold( III) complexes Antonio Laguna, Mariano Laguna, Josefina Jimknez and Antonio J. Fumanal Departamento de Quimica Inorghica, Znstituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Aragbn, Universirlad de Zaragoza-C.S.Z. C., 5UOO9 Zaragoza (Spain) (Received March 23rd, 1990) Abstract Displacement of tetrahydrothiophen (tht) from AuR(tht) (R = 2,4,6-C,F,H,) by anionic ligands gives [At&X]-, which reacts with AgClO, or AgR to give [AuR],, [RAuSCNAuR]- or [AuAgR,],. Neutral [AuR,L (L = PPh,, AsPh,, SbPh,, OPPh,, SPPh,, NCMe, NCPr, NCPh, NC(CH=CH,), o-(NC&H, or py), (p-4,4’- bipy)AuR, or cis-AuR,Cl(py)], anionic {(NBu,)[AuR,Br] or (NBu,)[AuR,]} or cationic { truns-[AuR,(4,4’-bipy)]ClO,} gold(II1) complexes are obtained by dis- placement of the ether ligand of AuR,(OEt,), AuR,Cl(OEt,) or [AuR,(OEt,),] ClO,. Several gold(I) and gold(II1) complexes containing the trifluorophenyl group are known [l-5], but they have received far less attention than the corresponding pentafluorophenyl derivatives [6,7]. For instance, no derivatives of the types [RAuXAuR]- (R = C,F,H,, X = halide or pseudohalide), AuR,L or [AuR,L2]+ (L = neutral ligand) have been reported. In the present paper we describe the synthesis of several types of trifluorophenyl gold(I) and gold(II1) complexes obtained by displacement of tetrahydrothiophen (tht) or diethyl ether from Au(C,F,H,)(tht), Au(C,F,H,),(tht), Au(C,F,H,),(OEt,) or [Au(C,F,H,),(OEt2)2]C104 by other neutral or anionic ligands. Results and discussion (a) Gold(l) complexes The tetrahydrothiophen (tht) in AuR(tht) (R = 2,4,6-C,F,H,) is readily displaced by anionic ligands (Eq. 1): AuR(tht) + QX --* Q[AuRX] + tht (I) [R = 2,4,6C,F,H,; QX = (PPh,Bz)Cl (l), (NBu,)Br (2) or [N(PPh,),]SCN (3)] 0022-328X/90/$03.50 Q 1990 - Elsevier Sequoia S.A.