Chiral heterobimetallic gold(I) ferrocenyldithiophosphonato complexes

Chiral and non-chiral ferrocenyldithiophosphonates [tBuNH 3][Fe(η5-C5H5) {η5-C5H4P(OR)S2}] were prepared from [Fe(η5-C5H5){η5-C 5H4PS(μ-S)}]2 and the respective alcohol ROH [R = bornyl (1), myrtenyl (2), adamantyl (3)] and tBuNH2 as base. The reaction with [AuCl(tht)] (tht = tetrahydrothiophene) gave the corresponding chiral (1a, 2a) and non-chiral (3a) heterobimetallic dimeric gold(I) ferrocenyldithiophosphonato complexes [Au{Fe(η5-C 5H5)(η5-C5H4P(OR) (μ-S)2)}]2 [R = bornyl (1a), myrtenyl (2a), adamantyl (3a)]. Compounds 1-3 and 1a-3a were characterised spectroscopically (IR, 1H, 13C, 31P NMR) and by mass spectrometry, and the chiral heterobimetallic dimeric gold(I) ferrocenyldithiophosphonato complex 1a was also structurally characterised by X-ray crystallography. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim