Gold carbonyl cations and beyond: homoleptic gold(I) complexes with P 4 and P 4 S 3 and the half-sandwich cation [Au(C 6 H 6 )(CO)] .

Oxidation of Au 0 with the synergistic Ag + /0.5 I 2 system in the commercial organic solvent 1,2,3,4-tetrafluorobenzene led to the perfluoroalkoxyaluminate salt of the [Au(CO) 2 ] + cation known from superacid chemistry. This [Au(CO) 2 ] + salt proved to be an excellent 'naked' Au + -synthon yielding complex salts with [Au(η 2 -P 4 ) 2 ] + , [Au(η 1 -P 4 S 3 ) 2 ] + and half-sandwich [Au(η 2 -C 6 H 6 )(CO)] + cation.