Group 12 metal zwitterionic thiolate compounds: preparation and structural characterization.

Reactions of TabHPF(6) (Tab = 4-(trimethylammonio)benzenethiolate) with three equiv. of M(OAc)(2)·2H(2)O (M = Zn, Cd) gave rise to two tetranuclear adamantane-like compounds, [M(4)(μ-Tab)(6)(Tab)(4)](PF(6))(8)·S (·S: M = Zn, S = DMF·4H(2)O; ·S: M = Cd, S = DMF·5H(2)O). The similar reactions of MCl(2) (M = Zn, Cd, Hg) with four equiv. of TabHPF(6) in the presence of Et(3)N afforded three mononuclear compounds [M(Tab)(4)](PF(6))(2)·S (·S: M = Zn, S = 2(H(2)O)(0.5); ·S: M = Cd, S = 2(H(2)O)(0.5); ·S: M = Hg, S = 2DMF). Treatment of the precursor complex or with equimolar MCl(2) and two equiv. of TabHPF(6) and Et(3)N produced one dinuclear compounds [M(μ-Tab)(Tab)(2)](2)(PF(6))(4)·2DMF·2H(2)O (·2DMF·2H(2)O: M = Zn; ·2DMF·2H(2)O: M = Hg) while analogous reactions of with CdCl(2)·2H(2)O gave rise to [Cd(μ-Tab)(2)(Tab)](2)(PF(6))(4)·2DMF (·2DMF). These compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectra, UV-Vis spectra, (1)H NMR and single-crystal X-ray crystallography. In or , four M(2+) ions and six S atoms of Tab ligands constitute an adamantane-like [M(4)(μ-S)(6)] cage in which each M(2+) ion is tetrahedrally coordinated by one terminal S and three bridged S atoms from four different Tab ligands. In , each M(2+) center of the [M(Tab)(4)](2+) dication is tetrahedrally coordinated by four S atoms of Tab ligand. Two [M(Tab)(2)](2+) dications in or are further bridged by a pair of Tab ligands to form a dimeric [M(μ-Tab)(Tab)(2)](2)(4+) structure. Each dimeric [(Tab)Cd(μ-Tab)(2)Cd(Tab)](4+) unit in is linked to its two neighboring units via two couples of bridging Tab ligands, thereby generating a unique 1D cationic chain. These results may provide useful information on interpreting structural data of MTs containing group 12 metals.