By means of electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), it was evidenced experimentally that the univalent silver cation (Ag+) reacts with the electroneutral pyrene ligand (C16H10) to form especially the cationic complexes [Ag(C16H10)](+) and [Ag(C16H10)(2)](+). Moreover, applying quantum chemical calculations, five different conformations of these two Ag(I) complexes were derived. Finally, in the solid state, the polymeric complex structure [Ag(pyrene)(0.5)(CF3SO3)](n)center dot[Ag(toluene)(CF3SO3)](n), crystallizing in the monoclinic system with the centrosymmetric space group P2/c, was prepared and analyzed by X-ray crystallography. (C) 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.