A highly luminescent octanuclear gold(i) carbide cluster.

The ligand [{Me3SiC[triple bond, length as m-dash]CC(NDipp)2}Li(thf)3] (Dipp = 2,6-diisopropylphenyl) was used for salt metathesis reactions with [AuCl(tht)] (tht = tetrahydrothiophene) to obtain the dinuclear alkyne functionalized bisamidinate [{Me3SiC[triple bond, length as m-dash]CC(NDipp)2}2Au2]. This compound serves as a building block for the polynuclear carbide bridged gold(i) amidinate complex [Au8{μ3-(η1:η2-C[triple bond, length as m-dash]C)}2(Me3SiC[triple bond, length as m-dash]CC(NDipp)2)4(tht)2], which is the first gold(i) complex with a μ3-η1:η2 carbide coordination. Both gold(i) compounds show distinct aurophilic interactions and are remarkably stable at ambient conditions. Photophysical investigations revealed intense luminescence with notable high quantum yields both in the solid state and in solution.