Noncovalent interactions determine the conformation of aurophilic complexes with 2-mercapto-4-methyl-5-thiazoleacetic acid ligands.

We report the synthesis of three gold(i) complexes [Au(H(2)-mmta)(2)]Cl·(3)H(2)O (1), Na(3)[Au(mmta)(2)]·6H(2)O (2) and Na(3)[Au(mmta)(2)]·10.5H(2)O (3) (H(2)-mmta = 2-mercapto-4-methyl-5-thiazoleacetic acid) in which the Au(i) centre is incorporated either in cationic or anionic units of the [Au(SR)(2)](+/-) type depending on the protonation state of the ligand. All structures were characterized by single crystal X-ray analysis and found to exhibit unsupported aurophilic interactions leading to the formation of dimeric [Au(2)(H(2)-mmta)(4)](2+) and [Au(2)(mmta)(4)](6-) species. By applying several ab initio interpretative techniques we examine the character of the intermolecular interactions stabilizing the eclipsed arrangement of the aurophilic dimers formed in 1-3.