Reaction of [Ag(CF
3CO
2)] with tetrahydrothiophene (tht) (2:1) in dichloromethane leads to the synthesisof [Ag
4(CF
3CO
2)
4(tht)
2] (
1), which further reacts with mesitylgold(I) ([Au(mes)]) (1:1) to afford[AuAg
4(mes)(CF
3CO
2)
4(tht)]
n (
3). Treatment of [Au(mes)] with [Ag(RCO
2)] (R = CF
3, CF
2CF
3) and tht(molar ratio 1:4:1 or 1:4:3) leads to the new Au/Ag systems [AuAg
4(mes)(RCO
2)
4(tht)
x]
n (
x = 1, R =CF
3 (
3), CF
2CF
3 (
4);
x = 3, R = CF
3 (
5), CF
2CF
3 (
6)). The crystal structures of
3,
4, and
6 have beenestablished by X-ray diffraction, all of them displaying Au···Ag interactions supported by mesityl ligandsthat bridge three metal centers in an unprecedented situation in transition metal chemistry. AdditionalAu-S-Ag and Ag-O-Ag (
3 and
4) or Ag-S-Ag (
6) bonds result in two-dimensional polymers thatcontain both Au···Ag and Ag···Ag contacts. Treatment of
3 with water (1:2) in dichloromethane leadsto {[AuAg
4(mes)(CF
3CO
2)
4(tht)(H
2O)]·H
2O·CH
2Cl
2}
n (
7), whose crystal structure shows the partial breakof the cyclic [Ag
2(
![](/images/entities/mgr.gif)
-RCO
2)
2] dimer present in the structures of
3,
4, and
6, probably caused by thecoordination of one molecule of water to one of the Ag
I centers. It also displays Au···Ag and Ag···Aginteractions, as well as Ag-C bonding interactions and additional Ag-O contacts, which result in amonodimensional polymer. The crystal structure of
1 has also been determined by X-ray diffraction.