A Square-planar Hydrated Cationic Tetrakis(methimazole)gold(III) Complex

The cationic pseudo-square-planar complex tetrakis(1-methyl-2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazole-2-thione-κS)gold(III) trichloride sesquihydrate, [Au(C4H6N2S)4]Cl3·1.5H2O, was isolated as dark-red crystals from the reaction of chloroauric acid trihydrate (HAuCl4·3H2O) with four equivalents of methimazole in methanol. The Au(III) atoms reside at the corners of the unit cell on an inversion center and are bound by the S atoms of four methimazole ligands in a planar arrangement, with S-Au-S bond angles of approximately 90°.