Structural and Luminescence Properties of Heteronuclear Gold(I)/Thallium(I) Complexes Featuring Metallophilic Interactions Tuned by Quinoline Pendant Arm Derivatives of Mixed Donor Macrocycles

Reaction of the heterometallic complex [{Au(C6F5)2}Tl]n with the quinoline pendant arm derivatives L1 and L2 of the mixed donor macrocycles [12]aneNS2O and PhenNS2 affords the new Au(I)/Tl(I) complexes [{Au- (C6F5)2}Tl(L1)] (1), [{Au(C6F5)2}Tl(L2)] (2), [{Au(C6F5)2Tl}{Au(C6F5)2Tl- (L1)}]2 (3), and [{Au(C6F5)2Tl}{Au(C6F5)2Tl(L2)}]n (4) depending on the reaction molar ratios used. These complexes present different optical properties strictly related to their structural features and to the presence of Au(I)···Tl(I) metallophilic interactions, which are finely tuned by the coordinating quinoline moiety and have been studied experimentally and theoretically via TD-DFT calculations.