Assembly of the Au-diphosphine helical cage molecules via alkynyl-mu(4)-methylydine ligand transformation

The assembly of the gold(I)-diphosphine cages occurs via unprecedented transformation of the alkynyls into the mu(4)-methylydine ligands under basic conditions. These compounds demonstrate the equilibrium between the P <-> M helical isomers and serve as hosts to accommodate small molecules (CH2Cl2 and CS2).