Luminescent Au6Ag13 Cage Compounds of Arylacetylides, Metastable Intermediates to Au5Ag8 Complexes of {1,2,3-C6(C6H4R-4)3}3- (R = H, CH3, But)

Crystallographic characterization of the metastable alkynyl complexes [Au 6 Ag 1 3 (μ-dppm) 3 (μ 3 -η 1 -C≡CC 6 H 4 R-4) 1 4 ] 5 + (R = H (la), CH 3 (2a), But (3a)) is described. Photolysis of the green Au 6 Ag 1 3 alkynyl complexes in solutions allows isolation of the red Au 5 Ag 8 products [Au 5 Ag 8 (μ-dppm) 4 {u 5 -1,2,3-C 6 (C 6 H 4 R-4) 3 }-(C≡CC 6 H 4 R-4) 7 ] 3 + (R = H (1), CH 3 (2), But (3)) together with silver precipitate. The unprecedented Au I Ag I 1 3 alkynyl cluster complexes exhibit unusual cage structures and show intense luminescence.