Tris(dimethylamino)phosphane as a new ligand in gold(I) chemistry: Synthesis and crystal structures of

[Tris(dimethylamino)phosphane]gold(I) chloride, Hs-tris|[tris(dimethylarnino)phosphane]gold(I)]oxonium tetrafluoroborate, (μ ₃-tris(dimethylamino)phosphaneimidotris[tris(dimethylamino)phosphane] gold(I))(2+) bis(tetrafluoroborate) and N-trimethylsilyltris(dimethylamino)phosphaneimine were prepared using modifications of established procedures. Their structures were determined in single-crystal X-ray diffraction studies. The ligand (Me₂N)₃P, here introduced into gold(I) chemistry for the first time, lends high stability to these compounds through efficient steric shielding of the reaction sites and through a balanced electronic substituent effect. The structural details of the (Me₂N)₃P groups are of current interest because of the unusual nonequivalent configuration of the nitrogen atoms in the dimethylamino groups. This behaviour has been observed for most of the (Me₂N)₃P units in the compounds studied in this work.