A golden ring: molecular gold carbido complexes.

Stannylcarbynes [M(≡CSnMe3)(CO)2(Tp*)] [M = Mo, W; Tp* = hydrotris(dimethylpyrazol-1-yl)borate], which are readily obtained via the successive treatment of [M(≡CBr)(CO)2(Tp*)] with (n)BuLi and ClSnMe3, serve as effective carbyne transmetalation agents for the preparation of heteronuclear molecular gold carbido complexes such as [M(≡CAuPPh3)(CO)2(Tp*)] and the tetrameric golden ring complex [W(≡CAu)(CO)2(Tp*)]4, which are in turn able to transfer the carbido unit to palladium.