Coordination polymers of Au(I) and Ag(I) with thioguanosine

Reaction of Au(I) or Ag(I) ions with 6-thioguanosine in aqueous media produces coordination polymers in which the polymer backbone is a helical metal-sulfur chain. The polymers are chiral and luminescent. Reaction of mixtures of metal ions produces copolymers with optical properties intermediate between the Au and Ag homopolymers. The polymers are found to be labile in the sense that mixtures of homopolymers will revert to copolymers on a timescale of several hours. The dataset includes optical spectroscopy (absorption, emission and circular dichroism), atomic force microscopy, elemental composition and rheology.