Ring Puckering in Chloride-[N,N′-Bis(2,6-Diisopropylphenyl)-2,2,6,6-Tetramethylheptane-3,5-Diiminato]Tin(II)

Reaction of the beta-diketiminato lithium salt {CH[((CBu)-Bu-t)(2,6-(Pr2C6H3N)-Pr-i)](2)}Li--(+) with SnCl2 provided the derivative {CH[((CBu)-Bu-t)(2,6-(Pr2C6H3N)-Pr-i)(2)}SnCl with a three-coordinate tin(II) ion. The crystal structure shows a non-planar ligand skeleton and a tin(II) ion with a distorted tetrahedral pyramidal geometry with one vertex occupied by an unshared electron pair. The Sn(II) ion out of the N2-C3-C2-C1-N1 plane (Phi-length) is 0.674 angstrom because of the steric hindrance between the tert-butyl groups and the N-aryl groups. The Sn-N1 [2.224 (19) angstrom] and Sn-N2 [2.1423 (18) angstrom] distances in the heterocycle corresponded with a delocalized system, while the most acute angle was associated with the bite of the chelating ligand N-Sn-N 87.94 (7)degrees.