Structure and Properties of Neutral and Cationic Gold(III) Complexes from Substituted 2‑(2′-Pyridyl)quinoline Ligands

A one-step catalytic synthesis of 6-substituted 4-phenyl-2-(2′-pyridyl)­quinolines provides electronically differentiated ligands without solvent, inert atmosphere, metal contamination, or chromatography. Gold­(III) complexes formed from these bidentate PyQuin ligands were characterized and studied by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The cationic gold­(III) chloride synthesized from 6-methoxy-4-phenyl-2-(2′-pyridyl)­quinoline has a distorted square-planar ligand environment. Diamagnetic neutral gold­(III) complexes from methoxy-, methyl-, and phenyl-PyQuin ligands exhibit a long axial Au–N2 interaction.