The title compound, [AuCl(C18H21P)], a monomeric two-coordinate gold(I) complex, has been characterized at 100 K as two distinct monoclinic polymorphs, one from a single crystal, (Is), and one from a pseudo-merohedrally twinned crystal, (It). The mol­ecular structures in the two monoclinic [P21/n for (Is) and P21/c for (It)] polymorphs are similar; however, the packing arrangements in the two lattices differ considerably. The structure of (It) is pseudo-merohedrally twinned by a twofold rotation about the a* axis.

The title compound, C40H64O12, crystallizes in a pseudo­merohedrally twinned primitive monoclinic cell with similar contributions of the two twin components. There are two symmetry-independent half-mol­ecules of nona­ctin in the asymmetric unit. Each mol­ecule has a pseudo-S 4 symmetry and resides on a crystallographic twofold axis; the axes pass through the mol­ecular center of mass and are perpendicular to the plane of the macrocycle. The literature description of the room-temperature structure of nona­ctin as an order–disorder structure in an ortho­rhom­bic unit cell is corrected. We report a low-temperature high-precision ordered structure of ‘free’ nona­ctin that allowed for the first time precise determination of its bond distances and angles. It possesses an unfolded and more planar geometry than its complexes with encapsulated Na+, K+, Cs+, Ca2+ or NH4 + cations that exhibit more isometric overall conformations.