It may be prepared by dissolving gold in aqua regia (to give chloroauric acid), followed by addition of dimethyl sulfide.

[2] Alternatively, sodium tetrachloroaurate may be used as the source of gold(III).

[4] An approximate equation is: A simple preparation starts from elemental gold in DMSO / conc HCl (1:2) where DMSO acts as an oxidant and the formed Me2S as ligand.

[5] In chloro(dimethyl sulfide)gold(I), the dimethyl sulfide ligand is easily displaced by other ligands:[6] Since Me2S is volatile, the new complex LAuCl is often easily purified.

When exposed to light, heat, or air, the compound decomposes to elemental gold.