Two gold complexes, [Au-III{4-MeOPh-(Phbipy)}Cl]. CF3SO3 1 and [Au-III(4-MEOPh-terpy)Cl].(ClO4)(2) 2 [4-MeOPh-(Phbipy) = 4'-(4-methoxyphenyl)-6'-phenyl-2,2'-bipyridine, 4-MeOPh-terpy = 4'-(4-methoxyphenyl)-2,2',6',2''-terpyridine] are prepared, and their interactions with calf-thymus DNA, poly(dG-dC)(2) and poly(dA-dT)(2), investigated by spectroscopic means; in the reaction with ct DNA, 1 has a higher binding constant than 2, but the latter has a higher degree of AT specificity.