Gold(I) Metallo‐Tweezers for the Recognition of Functionalized Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons by Combined π–π Stacking and H‐Bonding

Two gold(I)-based metallo-tweezers with bis(Au-NHC) pincers and a carbazole connector have been obtained and used for the recognition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). In the case of the tweezer with pyrene-NHC ligands, the presence of the pyrene fragment and the N-H bond in the carbazole linker enable the receptor to show significant enhanced binding abilities toward PAHs functionalized with H-bonding groups, through combined pi-pi stacking and H-bonding.