Gold(III) chloride

Gold(III) chloride is an inorganic compound of gold and chlorine, represented empirically as AuCl₃. Its solid form consists of Au₂Cl₆ dimers with two bridging chlorine atoms.

Gold–chlorine bonding: Chemical bonding between gold and chlorine atoms, shaped by gold’s oxidation state and coordination environment. Au–Cl bonds form the terminal and bridging connections in the Au₂Cl₆ dimer.
Oxidation state: A bookkeeping value representing an atom’s formal electron loss or gain in a compound. The name specifies gold in the +3 oxidation state.
Gold nanoparticle synthesis: Methods for producing nanoscale particles of elemental gold from chemical precursors. Reduction of gold(III) chloride is a common route to colloidal gold nanoparticles.
Gold(III) bromide: A gold(III) halide composed of gold and bromine, with empirical formula AuBr₃. Replacing chloride with bromide changes the halide while retaining gold’s +3 oxidation state.
Gold(III): The +3 oxidation state of gold, common in its compounds and associated with strong oxidizing behavior. Gold(III) describes the formal oxidation state assigned to gold in AuCl₃.
Empirical formula: A chemical formula giving the simplest whole-number ratio of elements in a compound. AuCl₃ gives the simplest gold-to-chlorine ratio, not the solid-state molecular unit.
Turkevich method: A citrate-based method for reducing gold salts to form aqueous gold nanoparticles. It commonly uses chloroauric acid derived from gold(III) chloride as the gold source.
Gold(III) fluoride: A gold(III) halide composed of gold and fluorine, with formula AuF₃. Its Au–F bonding and structure contrast with those of gold(III) chloride.
Coordination number: The number of atoms or groups directly bonded to a central atom in a coordination entity. Each gold atom in solid Au₂Cl₆ has four chlorine neighbors.
Chemical dimer: A molecule or molecular unit formed by joining two component units, often identical ones. Two AuCl₃ units associate as the solid-state dimer Au₂Cl₆.

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Aqua regiaBroader topic: Gold dissolved by aqua regia is stabilized in solution as chloride complexes, including this compound.