. General procedure for small-scale synthesis of [Au(NHC)(OH)]
A vial was charged with [Au(NHC)Cl] (1 equiv.), finely ground sodium hydroxide (6 equiv.) and THF (0.32 M) under air. Tert-amyl alcohol (0.2 equiv.) was then added under stirring. After 24 h at room temperature, the crude mixture was then filtered through Celite and washed with additional THF. Water (∼1 mL/100 mg) was added to the solution and THF was removed under vacuum. More water was added to the white, cloudy suspension and the product was stirred vigorously for a few minutes. It was left to settle for 10 min, collected using a Buchner funnel and washed with hexane. It was then dried under vacuum for several days to produce a white microcrystalline solid