Coinage Metal Complexes with Di-tertiary-butyl Sulfide as Precursors with Ultra-Low Decomposition Temperature.

We report here the synthesis of [Cu (TFA) ( Bu S) ] (1), [Ag (TFA) ( Bu S) ] (2) and [AuCl( Bu S)] (3) (TFA=trifluoroacetate), which decompose in solution medium at ultra-low temperature (e. g., in boiling toluene) to afford phase-pure and highly crystalline Cu S , Ag S and metallic Au nanoparticles, respectively. The low decomposition temperature of these precursors is attributed to the facile decomposition mechanism in the di-tertiary-butyl sulfide ligand. These results are a significant step in the direction of establishing a general low-temperature strategy spanning a range of systems including thermodynamically metastable materials and incorporate them in technologies that are sensitive to the harsh conditions.