Mercury(II) halide complexes with N-donor organic ligands: crystal and molecular structure of HgI2R, R = 1,10-phenanthroline, 2,9-dimethyl-1,10-phenanthroline, bipyridine

Abstract

The synthesis, characterization and single crystal X-ray structure of three compounds of general formula HgI₂R (R = phen[1], dmph [2] and bpy[3]) are presented. The crystal data for the three compounds are: [1], triclinic, space group P $\bar 1$ (#2) a = 7.902(2), b = 9.479(2), c = 10.002(2) Å, α = 91.45(2), β = 111.34(2), γ = 100.82(2)° [2]: monoclinic, space group C2/c (#15) a = 15.670(3), b = 11.640(2), c = 9.730(2) Å, β = 114.57(3)° [3]: triclinic, space group P1¯ (#2) a = 9.472(1), b = 9.507(1), c = 9.023(1) Å, α = 98.46(1), β = 102.89(1), γ = 119.62(1)°. Compounds [1] and [2] are monomers, with highly distorted tetrahedral environments around Hg. In [3], instead, there is a significant intermolecular I···Hg interaction leading to the formation of softly bound dimers linking two pentacoordinated cations. The structure is compared with related ones in the literature.