Two thiourea-containing gold(I) complexes

The crystal structures of two salts of bis(thiourea)gold(I) complexes, namely bis(thiourea-kappaS)gold(I) chloride, [Au(CH4-N-2 S)(2)]Cl, (I), and bis[bis(thiourea-kappaS)gold(I)] sulfate, [Au(CH4N2S)(2)](2)SO4, (II), have been determined. The chloride salt, (I), is isomorphous with the corresponding bromide salt, although there are differences in the bonding. The Au-I ion is located on an inversion centre and coordinated by two symmetry-related thiourea ligands through the lone pairs on their S atoms [Au-S 2.278 (2) Angstrom and Au-S-C 105.3 (2)degrees]. The sulfate salt, (II), crystallizes with four independent [Au(CH4N2S)(2)](+) cations per asymmetric unit, all with nearly linear S-Au-S bonding. The cations in (II) have similar conformations to that found for (I). The Au-S distances range from 2.276 (3) to 2.287 (3) Angstrom and the Au-S-C angles from 173.5 (1) to 177.7 (1)degrees. These data are relevant in interpreting different electrochemical processes where gold-thiourea species are formed.