Secondary bond interactions, xanthate structures

There are two closely related structures, that is, [Zn (2-Me-5-Ph-pyr-azole)3BH (S2COMe)] (172) and [Zn (2-Me-5-(4-/-Pr-Ph)-pyrazole)3BH (S2. COEt)] (173), in which the putative Zn- -O secondary bond interactions alluded to above attain a higher level of significance. The molecular structure of the former molecule is shown in Fig. 94 from which it can be seen that three coordination sites about the zinc center are occupied by nitrogen atoms derived from the substituted pyrazole ligand. The xanthate ligand coordinates via the SI... 

There are single examples of sulfur and selenium xanthates with the remaining structures to be described in this section featuring tellurium as the central element. There are a significant number of binary xanthates and, in common with these, their organotellurium xanthates feature extensive supra-molecular association, usually, but not exclusively, via Te- S secondary bond interactions. A rare example of mixed-ligand 1,1-dithiolate structure is available where the odd dithiolate ligand is a dithiocarbamate. 

There are two types of objects in supramolecular chemistry supermolecules (i.e., well-defined discrete oligomolecular species that result from the inter-molecular association of a few components), and supramolecular arrays (i.e., polymolecular entities that result from the spontaneous association of a large, undefined number of components) (4, 5). Both are observed in some metal-xanthate structures to be described herein. The most frequent intermolecular forces leading to self-assembly in metal xanthates are so-called secondary bonds . The secondary bond concept has been introduced by Nathaniel W. Alcock to describe interactions between molecules that result in interatomic distances longer than covalent bonds and shorter than the sum of van der Waals radii (6). Secondary bonds [sometimes called soft-soft interactions (7)] are typical for heavier p-block elements and play an important role as bonding motifs in supramolecular organometallic chemistry (8). Other types of intermolecular forces (e.g., Ji- -ji stacking) are also observed in the crystal structures of metal xanthates. 

The important point to appreciate is that the formal valency of zinc is satisfied by two bonds to sulfur so that the additional interactions are indeed hypervalent interactions. Thus, the nature of the adopted structures arises from the ability of the central element to form hypervalent, or secondary, interactions and it is proposed that this ability is moderated by steric considerations associated with the alkyl substituents. As noted from the structural studies for the uncoordinated xanthate anions summarized earlier in Section II, there are no electronic differences among the xanthate ligands that can be correlated with the nature of the oxygen-bound substituent. This conclusion is vindicated by the homogeneity of the molecular structures of the binary nickel xanthates as... 

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