title: Investigating silver coordination to mixed chalcogen ligands.
abstract: Six silver(I) coordination complexes have been prepared and structurally characterised. Mixed chalcogen-donor acenaphthene ligands L1-L3 [Acenap(EPh)(E'Ph)] (Acenap = acenaphthene-5,6-diyl; E/E' = S, Se, Te) were independently treated with silver(I) salts (AgBF₄/AgOTf). In order to keep the number of variables to a minimum, all reactions were carried out using a 1:1 ratio of Ag/L and run in dichloromethane. The nature of the donor atoms, the coordinating ability of the respective counter-anion and the type of solvent used in recrystallisation, all affect the structural architecture of the final silver(I) complex, generating monomeric, silver(I) complexes {[AgBF₄(L)₂] (1 L = L1; 2 L = L2; 3 L = L3), [AgOTf(L)₃] (4 L = L1; 5 L = L3), [AgBF₄(L)₃] (2a L = L1; 3a L = L3)} and a 1D polymeric chain {[AgOTf(L3)](n) 6}. The organic acenaphthene ligands L1-L3 adopt a number of ligation modes (bis-monodentate μ₂-η²-bridging, quasi-chelating combining monodentate and η⁶-E(phenyl)-Ag(I) and classical monodentate coordination) with the central silver atom at the centre of a tetrahedral or trigonal planar coordination geometry in each case. The importance of weak interactions in the formation of metal-organic structures is also highlighted by the number of short non-covalent contacts present within each complex.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry, University of St. Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9ST, UK.
authors.forename: Fergus R
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Knight
authors.forename: Rebecca A M
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Randall
authors.forename: Lucy
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wakefield
authors.forename: Alexandra M Z
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Slawin
authors.forename: J Derek
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Woollins
mesh_terms: D000073:Acenaphthenes / Q000737:chemistry*; D001881:Borates / Q000737:chemistry*; D002614:Chelating Agents / Q000737:chemistry; D056831:Coordination Complexes / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D018360:Crystallography, X-Ray; D008698:Mesylates / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D012643:Selenium / Q000737:chemistry*; D018030:Silver Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D013691:Tellurium / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D000073:Acenaphthenes; D001881:Borates; D002614:Chelating Agents; D056831:Coordination Complexes; D008698:Mesylates; D018030:Silver Compounds; C064097:silver tetrafluoroborate; D012643:Selenium; C012077:trifluoromethanesulfonic acid; D013691:Tellurium