Chemistry in environmentally benign media .7. Chelating hydroxymethyl-functionalized bisphosphines as building blocks to water-soluble and in-vitro-stable gold(I) complexes. Synthesis, characterization, and x-ray crystal structures of [Au{(HOH2C)(2)PC6H4P(CH2OH)(2)}(2)]Cl and [AU(2){(HOH2C)(2)PCH2CH2P(CH2OH)(2)}(2)]Cl-2

The reactions of water-soluble bisphosphines (HOH2C)(2)PC6H4P(CH2OH)(2) (1) and (HOH2C)(2)PCH2CH2P(CH2OH)(2) (2) with NaAuCl4, in aqueous media, or AuClPPh3, in biphasic media (aqueous/organic), produced the water/alcoholic-soluble Au(I) complexes [Au{(HOH2C)(2)PC6H4P(CH2OH)(2)}(2)]Cl (3), [Au{(HOH2C)(2)PCH2CH2P(CH2OH)(2)}(2)]Cl (4), and [Au-2{(HOH2C)(2)PCH2CH2P(CH2OH)(2)}(2)]Cl-2 (5) in near quantitative yields. Stability and cysteine-challenge studies of 3 indicate the kinetic inertness of these new complexes. Complex 5 is luminescent in the solid state at room temperature. When excited at 280 nm in non-degassed water at room temperature, the emission spectrum shows a high-energy band at 310 nm and a low-energy band at 560 nm. The large Stokes shift for the low-energy band implies that the emission is phosphorescence. The X-ray structures of 3 and 5, reported in this paper, confirm the gold(I) structures of this new generation of water-soluble transition metal complexes. All compounds were characterized by P-31 and H-1 NMR spectroscopy and mass spectroscopy. X-ray data for 3: monoclinic, P2(1)/m, a = 9.8715;(5) Angstrom, b = 9.9465(5) Angstrom, c = 14.5621(8) Angstrom, beta = 106.5930(10)degrees, Z = 2, R = 0.032 (R-w = 0.050). X-ray data for 5: monoclinic, C2/c, a = 29.7128(14) Angstrom, beta = 16.7062(8) Angstrom, c = 22.3762 (11) Angstrom, beta = 117.6970(10:)degrees, Z = 16, R = 0.051 (R-w = 0.072).