Oxygen-Bound Trifluoromethoxide Complexes of Copper and Gold

Well-defined copper and gold complexes have been prepared
which
contain the shortest structurally characterized metal–oxygen
bonds between transition metals and a trifluoromethoxide moiety. The
trifluoromethoxide ligand is O-bound to both the copper and gold centers,
with a copper–oxygen distance of 1.849(4) Å and a gold–oxygen
distance of 2.058(4) Å. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations
on all new trifluoromethoxy complexes were performed in order to obtain
bond lengths and angles that are not influenced from any intermolecular
contacts in the solid state and also to provide a first glimpse of
the electronic features of this previously unknown ligand.