Ligand-unsupported Au(i) chains with short Au(i)⋯Au(i) contacts

A new series of solids with ligand-unsupported Au(I) chains with short Au⋯Au contacts were synthesized; as Ag compounds with the same structure are known, the new phases now allow unbiased comparison of Ag⋯Ag and Au⋯Au metallophilic bonds not supported by bridging ligands, which shows the latter to be consistently shorter by 0.03–0.04 Å.