Synthesis of Nanometer-Sized Cylinder-Like Structures from a 1,3,5-Triphenylbenzene-Bridged Tris-NHC Ligand and AgI, AuI, and CuI

The metal-controlled self-assembly of nanometer-sized trinuclear cylinder-like assemblies is described. The 1,3,5-triphenylbenzene-derived trisimidazolium salt [1](PF6)3 reacts with 1.5 equiv of Ag2O to yield the trinuclear Ag-I hexacarbene complex [2](PF6)(3), where three Ag-I ions are sandwiched in between two C-3-symmetric tris-NHC ligands. Transmetalation of [2](PF6)(3) with 3 equiv of [AuCl(SMe2)] or Cu-I yields the trinuclear Au-I hexacarbene complex [3](PF6)3 or the trinuclear Cu-I hexacarbene complex [4](PF6)(3), respectively, with retention of the metallosupramolecular structure. The 1,3,5-triphenylbenzene ligand in the gold complex adopts a nonplanar geometry to allow p interactions between the central phenyl rings