Speciation of aqueous gold(III) chlorides from ultraviolet/visible absorption and Raman/resonance Raman spectroscopies

Abstract

Gold(III) speciation in a one molar NaCl aqueous solution at ambient temperature and pressure was determined as a function of pH using ultraviolet/visible (UV/vis) absorption and Raman/resonance Raman (RR) spectroscopies. Gold concentrations in the solutions studied by UV/vis spectroscopy were ~10−4M whereas those studied by Raman spectroscopy were ~10−2 M. Changes in the intensity and positions of ligand-to-metal charge transfer bands in the UV/vis spectra of the Au(III) chloride solutions with increasing pH are consistent with replacement of chloride by hydroxide ligands. Changes in the number, position, and intensity of Raman and RR spectra of the same solutions are also consistent with successive replacement of chloride by hydroxide ligands in the first coordination sphere of four-coordinated Au(III) with increasing pH. Our Raman and UV/vis data are broadly consistent with earlier speciation predictions based on a variety of chemical measurements, but demonstrate that the mixed chloro-hydroxo complexes are more stable than predicted on the basis of theoretically estimated stability constants.