Highly Stable [C(60)AuC(60)](+/–) Dumbbells

[Image: see text] Ionic complexes between gold and C(60) have been observed for the first time. Cations and anions of the type [Au(C(60))(2)](+/–) are shown to have particular stability. Calculations suggest that these ions adopt a C(60)–Au–C(60) sandwich-like (dumbbell) structure, which is reminiscent of [XAuX](+/–) ions previously observed for much smaller ligands. The [Au(C(60))(2)](+/–) ions can be regarded as Au(I) complexes, regardless of whether the net charge is positive or negative, but in both cases, the charge transfer between the Au and C(60) is incomplete, most likely because of a covalent contribution to the Au–C(60) binding. The C(60)–Au–C(60) dumbbell structure represents a new architecture in fullerene chemistry that might be replicable in synthetic nanostructures.