Crystal structure of the [(1,3-dimesityl-1H-imidazol-3-ium-2-yl)methano-lato]copper(II) chloride dimer: insertion of formaldehyde into a copper-carbene bond.

ABSTRACT: The crystal structure of bis-[?-(1,3-dimesityl-1H-imidazol-3-ium-2-yl)methano-lato-?²O:O]bis-[di-chlorido-copper(II)], [Cu₂Cl₄(C₂₂H₂₆N₂O)₂], is reported. The complex is assumed to have formed via the insertion of formaldehyde into the copper-carbon bond in an N-heterocyclic carbene complex of copper(I) chloride. The structure of the binuclear mol-ecule possesses a crystallographic-ally centrosymmetric Cu₂O₂ central core with the O atoms bridging between the Cu^II atoms and thus Z' = 0.5. The copper centres are further ligated by two chloride ligands, resulting in the Cu^II atoms residing in a distorted square-planar environment. The Cu-O bond lengths are shorter than those previously reported in structures with the same central Cu₂O₂ motif. The complex displays C-H?Cl inter-actions involving the H atoms of the heterocycle backbone and the chloride ligands of a neighbouring mol-ecule.

SUBMITTER: Dodds CA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6127712 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature