A variable temperature X-ray diffraction investigation of [PPN+][S4N5-]: supramolecular interactions governing an order/disorder transformation and the first high resolution X-ray structure of the anion.

The title salt, triphenyl(P,P,P-triphenylphosphineimidato-kN)-phosphorus(1+) 1,3,5,7-tetrathia(1,5-SIV)-2,4,6,8,9-pentaazabicyclo[3.3.1]nona-1,4,6,7-tetraene(1-), CAS [48236-06-2], prepared by the literature method, is found by crystallography to be a 1:1 CH3CN solvate. Disorder exists for the N atoms of the anion. A VT crystal structure study was conducted at 100 K, 120 K, 140 K, 172 K, 200 K, 240 K and 280 K. The 100 K structure is superior, with only 10% of a second anion position oppositely-oriented w.r.t the diad axis of point group 2mm. At 120 K, an adjacent two-site disorder is encountered, but at higher temperatures three-site disorder with both opposite and adjacent placements of S4N5- ions is required w.r.t. the primary component. At 240 and especially 280 K, the anion nitrogen atoms appear fully scrambled amongst the six possible sites on the edges of an S4 tetrahedron with 83.3% occupancy for each. The PPN+ geometry does not show strong cation-cation interactions. However, there are numerous supramolecular contacts corresponding mostly to non-classical H-bonds between PPN+ ions and S4N5- as well as CH3CN. The geometry of the anion is corroborated from B3LYP/6-311++G(3df) DFT calculations, and the infra-red spectrum was assigned with excellent agreement between experimental and calculated frequencies.