Emission energy correlates with inverse of gold-gold distance for various [Au(SCN)2]- salts.

A series of bis(thiocyanato)gold(I) complexes with Au-Au interactions show luminescence in the range from 500 to 670 nm. The series of salts correlates emission energy with the reciprocal of the Au-Au distance. As the Au-Au distance increases, the emission energy decreases. The ligand system provides no framework for the Au-Au interaction. The emission energy seems totally determined by the Au-Au distance.