Oxidation of gold(I) pyrazolates by aqua regia. X-Ray crystal structures of the first examples of trinuclear Au-3(III) and (AuAu2III)-Au-I pyrazolato complexes

A trinuclear Au-3(III) pyrazolato complex, prepared by oxidation of (3,5-dimethylpyrazolato) gold(I) with aqua regia, decays sequentially to the mixed-valent (AuAu2III)-Au-I and (Au2AuIII)-Au-I species by elimination of Cl-2.