Anion directed supramolecular architectures of silver(I) complexes with 1,3-bis(imidazol-1-ylmethyl)-2,4,6-trimethylbenzene and a reversible, solvent-induced structural change during a single-crystal-to-single-crystal transformation

A series of silver(I) complexes with the ditopic ligand 1,3-bis(imidazol-1-ylmethyl)-2,4, 6-trimethylbenzene (bitmb) and SbF6-, PF6-, NO3-, CH3COO-, Cl- anions was prepared. The complexes were obtained in the same 1 : 1 metal to ligand molar ratio and reflect the influence of the counterions on the final structural arrangement. X-Ray diffraction revealed formation of similar discrete, dinuclear, metallocyclic species, for [Ag-2(bitmb)(2)](SbF6)(2)center dot 2CH(3)CN (1), [Ag-2(bitmb)(2)](PF6)(2)center dot 2CH(3)CN (2) and [Ag-2(bitmb)(2)](NO3)(2) (3) with di-coordinated silver ions. The solvent molecules present in the structures (1 and 2) are not strongly bonded and are easy to remove, resulting in a reversible single-crystal-to-single-crystal transformation (2 <-> 2a). The remaining two compounds [Ag(bitmb) CH3COO](n) (4) and [Ag(bitmb)Cl](n) (5) show polymeric structures with 1D and 2D ordering, respectively. In those complexes, counterions participate in the coordination sphere of the metal centre, yielding tri- and tetra-coordinated silver(I) compounds, correspondingly.