title: Benzotriazolate cage complexes of tin(II) and lithium: halide-influenced serendipitous assembly.
abstract: The one-pot reactions of the tin(II) halides SnX(2) (X = F, Cl, Br, I) with lithium hexamethyldisilazide, [Li(hmds)], and benzotriazole, (bta)H, produce contrasting outcomes. Tin(II) fluoride does not react with [Li(hmds)] and (bta)H, the outcome being the formation of insoluble [Li(bta)](∞). Tin(II) chloride and tin(II) bromide react with [Li(hmds)] and (bta)H in toluene to produce the hexadecametallic tin(II)-lithium cages [(hmds)(8)Sn(8)(bta)(12)Li(8)X(4)]·(n toluene) [X = Cl, 3·(8 toluene); X = Br, 4·(3 toluene)]. The reaction of tin(II) iodide with [Li(hmds)] and (bta)H in thf solvent produces the ion-separated species [{(thf)(2)Li(bta)}(3){Li(thf)}](2)[SnI(4)]·(thf), [5](2)[SnI(4)]·(thf), the structure of which contains a cyclic trimeric unit of lithium benzotriazolate and a rare example of the tetraiodostannate(II) dianion.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: Scott A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Sulway
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Layfield
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bodensteiner
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Scheuermayer
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Scheer
authors.forename: Manfred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zabel