Abstract

The reactions between Hg(SCN)2 and the 2-pyridyl oximes, 2-pyridine aldoxime (paoH), methyl 2-pyridyl ketone oxime (mepaoH), pyridine-2-amidoxime (NH2paoH) and di-2-pyridyl ketone oxime (dpkoxH), have been investigated. The products in Me2CO or Me2CO/MeOH are the dinuclear complexes [Hg2(SCN)4(paoH)2] (1), [Hg2(SCN)4(mepaoH)2] (2), [Hg2(SCN)4(NH2paoH)2] (3) and [Hg2(SCN)4(dpkoxH)2] (4), whose structures have been determined by single-crystal X-ray crystallography. The molecular structures consist of centrosymmetric dinuclear molecules in which the two HgII ions are bridged by two bidentate bridging 1: 1: (1,3) SCN- groups forming a planar (1, 2) or non-planar (3, 4), 8-membered metallacyclic ring. The HgII centers are each chelated by a N(2-pyridyl), N(oxime)-bidentate ligand and are bound to one terminal S-bonded thiocyanato group. Due to the very long HgII-N (bridging SCN-) distances in 3, this complex can also be described as pseudodimer. The second 2-pyridyl ring of each dpkoxH ligand in 4 remains uncoordinated. The 2D lattice of 1 and 2 is built through H-bonding and - stacking interactions. Hydrogen bonds and S...S interactions generate 3D networks in 3 and 4. The IR spectra of the complexes are discussed in terms of the coordination modes of the ligands involved (SCN-, 2-pyridyl oximes). 1H NMR spectra in d6-DMSO indicate that the complexes decompose in solution.

Keywords: Coordination chemistry, crystal structures, dinuclear mercury(II) complexes, 1H NMR spectra, infrared spectroscopy, oxime group, 2-pyridyl oxime ligands, thiocyanato ligands.

Graphical Abstract