Gold molecular precursors and gold-silica interactions

The gold(I) precursor Au(O2CNEt2)(PPh3) has been successfully employed to graft isolated Au(PPh3) fragments on amorphous silica. Molecular models of the silica surface, i.e. Ph3SiOH, (c-C5H9)7Si7O12SiOH and (c-C5H9)7Si7O9(OH)3, have been found to react with Au(O2CNR2)(PPh3), R = Me, Et, yielding the corresponding silanolato molecular complexes containing the SiO–Au(PPh3) moiety. Gold nanoparticles on silica have been produced by using AuCl(CO) as precursor.