A gold(i) 1,2,3-triazolylidene complex featuring the interaction between gold and methine hydrogen

A mesoionic N-heterocyclic carbene-gold(i) complex with a unique Au⋯H-C(methine) intramolecular hydrogen bonding interaction has been investigated in the solid state. The structure of this new neutral gold(i)-carbene was characterized by FT-IR and NMR spectroscopy, TGA, and X-ray diffraction techniques. Density functional theory (DFT) and atoms-in-molecule (AIM) analysis revealed that the gold-hydrogen bonding situation is more favored. Besides, the photophysical properties of the gold(i) complex were also investigated. This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.