The Chemistry of Gold Is Noble But Not Simple

Rossotti, Diverse Atoms Profiles of the Chemical Elements, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1998. 

Atkins, The Periodic Kingdom, Basic Books, New York, 1995, pp. 25-26, 56. 

Schadel, Angewandte Cherrde International Edition in English, Vol. 45 368-401, 2006. 

We know that gold does exhibit reactivity (but so does xenon)For example, the dissolution in aqua regia is really a chemical reaction in which HNO3 and HCl act synergistically (as a team). The oxidation of elemental gold to Au(lll) can only happen because of the stability of the AuCl ion  

I thank my wife, Susan Greenberg, for suggesting this essay. 

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