Layered organic-based metal iodide-polyiodide with unique mixed-valent gold(I/III) iodide chains.

We report the synthesis, optical spectrum, and crystal and electronic structures of a new organic-inorganic hybrid compound, [(p-NH3C6H4)2CH2]4 [(AuI2)(AuI4)(I2)2(I5)2Cl4], with unique mixed-valent gold(I/III) chains. The chains feature face-shared octahedral [AuIAu(III)I6]2- units and are embedded within polyiodide layers. The new mixed-valent gold iodide crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pnnm, with a = 27.0703(2), b = 8.9363(5), c = 18.4280(1) angstroms, Z = 2, and exhibits an optical band gap of 0.53 eV. Copyright 2004 American Chemical Society