Crystal structure of dichlorido[2-(diphenylphosphanyl)-3,4,5,6-tetrafluorobenzene-1-thiolato-κ 2 P , S ]gold(III)

The title compound, [Au(C 18 H 10 F 4 PS)Cl 2 ], crystallizes as neutral molecules, with the Au III atom coordinated by two Cl atoms and by the P and S atoms of the bidentate phosphanyl thiolate ligand, in a slightly distorted square-planar environment. The molecules are linked into centrosymmetric dimers via long axial Au—Cl bonds of 3.393 (4) Å. This axial Au—Cl distance is longer than is usually seen, although one other example has been given. Dimer formation may explain the unexpectedly low solubility of the compound in common polar solvents. There is also a separate intermolecular Au—F contact of 3.561 (6) Å, but this distance seems too long to be regarded as a bond. Two putative C—H...F hydrogen bonds appear to link the dimers into sheets parallel to (110). There is a short intermolecular F...F contact of 2.695 (10) Å between two dimers related by the twofold axis.