Formation of a tetranuclear supramolecule via non-covalent Pb•••Cl tetrel bonding interaction in a hemidirected lead(ii) complex with a nickel(ii) containing metaloligand

A hetero-dinuclear nickel(ii)/lead(ii) complex with a compartmental 'reduced Schiff base' ligand (having inner N2O2 and outer O2O2' compartments) has been prepared and characterized by elemental and spectral analysis. Single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis confirms its structure. Nickel(ii) is placed in the inner N2O2 compartment and lead(ii) is placed in the outer O2O2' compartment of the compartmental reduced Schiff base. The complex forms a tetranuclear supramolecule via non-covalent PbCl tetrel bonding interactions. The DFT study is devoted to analyze these tetrel bonding interactions that involve the sigma-hole at the hemicoordinated Pb(ii) atom. The tetrel bonding interactions have been characterized using Bader's theory of atoms in molecules (AIM).