Synthesis and structural characterization of stable coinage metal (Cu, Ag, Au) cyclopentadienyl complexes.

The electron withdrawing and oxidatively stable perfluorinated Cp* ligand [C 5 (CF 3 ) 5 ] - allowed for the isolation of rare and unusually stable coinage metal complexes [M(C 5 (CF 3 ) 5 )(P t Bu 3 )] (M = Cu, Ag, Au), representing the first complete and structurally comparable series of group 11 Cp coordination compounds. Full characterization and structure analysis revealed distinct and partly unknown coordination motifs with hapticities ranging from η 1 , η 3 /η 1 and η 3 /η 2 for gold, silver and copper, respectively. Quantum-chemical studies using DFT methods confirm these findings and connect them to the unique electronic structure of the given ligand system.