Bonding effects and the crystal structures of (NH4)2
The crystal structures of the Tutton salts (NH4)2[Cu(H2O)6](SO4)2, diammonium hexaaquacopper disulfate, formed with normal water and isotopically substituted H2(18)O, have been determined by X-ray diffraction at 9.5 K and are very similar, with Cu-O(7) the longest of the Cu-O bonds of the Jahn-Teller distorted octahedral [Cu(H2O)6]2+ complex. It is known that structural differences accompany deuteration of (NH4)2[Cu(H2O)6](SO4)2, the most dramatic of which is a switch to Cu-O(8) as the longest such bond. The present result suggests that the structural differences are associated with hydrogen-bonding effects rather than with increased mass of the water ligands affecting the Jahn-Teller coupling. The Jahn-Teller distortions and hydrogen-bonding contacts in the compounds are compared with those reported for other Tutton salts at ambient and high pressure.
Figgis
BN
School of Chemistry, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Australia. bnf@crystal.uwa.edu.au
Sobolev
AN
Simmons
CJ
Hitchman
MA
Stratemeier
H
Riley
MJ