Complexation of 1,4-bis(phenylthio)butane on mercury(II) salts: Formation of extended 2D coordination polymers

Two novel two-dimensional (2D) coordination polymers of stoichiometry [{PhS(CH2)(4)SPh}Hg2X4](n) (X = Cl, 2a; X = Br, 2b) have been prepared by treatment of HgX2 with PhS(CH2)(4)SPh 1, acting as bridging dithioether ligand. The extended 2D structures result from bridging coordination of 1 between two mercury atoms and intermolecular Hg-X interactions, thus linking the HgX2 units in two dimensions. As established for 2a,b by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, the coordination around the Hg centers in both isomorphous compounds (monoclinic, space group P2(1)/c) is distorted tetrahedral, with quite short Hg-thioether bonds of 2.4780(19) (2a) and 2.499(3) angstrom (2b), respectively.