What is the oxidation state of Au & C in AuC?

[FROGGBUSTER]

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So in the electrolysis of AuC, Kaplan says the half reaction for Au is:

Au+ + e- --> Au.

This means the oxidation state of the Au in AuC is +1 and the oxidation state of the C is -1.

I woulda thought it would be +4 & -4 though. Why is it +1 & -1?

 

[HannibalLecter]

Well for Carbon there is like a golden rule: you don't know the oxidation state of carbon by itself because it can vary so much from like +2 in CO to CH4: +4. So we have to go by what the oxidation state of gold is usually which is +1 because only needs one to fulfill its completeness of its d orbitals. So go off how many electrons Gold has to lose and I think you should be set.

And even if you have -4 for carbon and +4 for gold, metals always lose I don't think I have ever seen a metal gain electrons so forget about a negative oxidation state on a metal anywhere because metals are a sea of electrons remember so they want to lose electrons. And +4 doesn't work for gold because if you lose 4 electrons you are actually causing more of an entropy change than if you were to just lose one electron as in the +! oxidation state.