The crystal and molecular structure of the binuclear complex [(μ-S)-α,α'-{(2-Mercapto-4-methylbenzene-1,3-diyl)di(methylidyne)di(azino)}bis(cyclohexanemethanol)ato(3 - )]-(μ-1-propylimidazolato-C(4),N(3))-dipalladium(II)-ethanol (1/0.75)
The crystal and molecular structure of the 1-propylimidazolate bridged binuclear complex, LPd2(primid) has been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction techniques at 20�C; disordered ethanol molecules are also present in the lattice. The quinquedentate ligand L3- is formally the trianion α,α'-{(2-mercapto-4-methylbenzene-1,3-diyl)di(methylidyne)di(azino)bis(cyclohexane-methanol)ato(3 -). Crystals of LPd2 (primid) are triclinic, P1, with a 7.078(2), b l3.615(3), c 17365(3) �, α 78.52(2), β 80.21(2) and γ 83.83(2)�. The structure was solved by conventional Fourier methods and refined by full-matrix least-squares procedures to convergence with R and Rw 0.053 obtained for the 4133 statistically significant structure amplitudes. The ligand sidearms are essentially equivalent with both palladium centres displaying similar distorted square-planar geometries, the separation being 3.605 �. The propylimidazolate bridging group is comfortably accommodated within the binuclear framework and displays a geometry typical of metal complexes of imidazole and its derivatives. Coordination to the palladium centres occurs through C4 and N3, a bridging mode not previously characterized by X-ray crystallography, and one which illustrates the remarkable stability and flexibility of the binuclear LPd2+ core.