Gold complexes of purine and pyrimidine nucleosides.

the reactions of chloroauric acid (HAuCl4) with inosine=ino, guanosine=guo, triacetylinosine=trino, triacetylguanosine=trguo, and cytidine=cyd were studied. Complexes of AU(III) and AU(I) with these nucleosides have been isolated from the reactions at different pH values in aqueous and in methanolic solutions. The Au(I) complexes were obtained by reducing Au(III) with 1-ascorbic acid in aqueous solutions. All the isolated complexes were characterized by elemental analyses, conductivity measurements, IR, 1H nmr, and esr spectra. The Au(III) complexes correspond to the general formulae [Au(nucl)2Cl2]Cl, Au(nucl)Cl3, and Au(nucl-H+Cl2, while the Au(I)complexes are of the au(nucl)2Cl type, where nucl represents the above nucleosides. In the complex with the composition (AucydCl2]2 that was isolated from aqueous solutions, the Au atom is believed to be in the (II) oxidation state. Possible structures for all the isolated complexes based on the experimental data are proposed and discussed.