SYNTHESIS AND STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE TETRAHEDRAL CLUSTER [AU4(PPH3)4(MU-2-SNCL3)2]

The reaction of [Sn{O-4-NO2-C6H3O}{OC4H8}]n with AuPPh3Cl has resulted in the isolation of the cluster [Au4(PPh3)4(mu-2-SnCl3)2] in low yield. A single crystal X-ray diffraction study has shown that [Au4(PPh3)4(mu-2-SnCl3)2] has a crystallographically imposed two fold axis of symmetry passing through the molecule. [Au4(PPh3)4(mu-2-SnCl3)2] has a tetrahedral arrangement of gold atoms with Au-Au distances in the range 2.6341(5) to 2.8128(5) angstrom and has two opposite edges bridged by SnCl3 groups with Au-Sn distances of 2.8150(7) and 2.9725(8)angstrom. [Au4(PPh3)4(mu-2-SnCl3)2] is the first known example of a compound containing a mu-2-SnX3 fragment.