Gold compounds

found: Oxford dict. of chemistry, via Answers website, July 17, 2012(auric compounds: Compounds of gold in its higher (+3) oxidation state; e.g. auric chloride is gold(III) chloride (AuCl₃); aurous compounds: Compounds of gold in its lower (+1) oxidation state; e.g. aurous chloride is gold(I) chloride (AuCl))

found: Britannica online, July 17, 2012(under gold (Au): The characteristic oxidation states of gold are +1 (aurous compounds) and +3 (auric compounds). The state +1 is generally quite unstable, and most of the chemistry of gold involves the state +3. Among the relatively few gold compounds of practical importance are gold chloride, AuCl; gold trichloride, AuCl₃; and chlorauric acid, HAuCl₄. In the first compound gold is in the +1 oxidation state, and in the latter two, the +3 state.)