Preparation and Characterization of Antimony and Arsenic Tricyanide and Their 2,2'-Bipyridine Adducts

Square Planar Pt(II) Ion as Electron Donor in Pnictogen Bonding Interactions

It has been proposed that late transition metals with low coordination numbers (square planar or linear) can act as nucleophiles and participate in σ-hole interactions as electron donors. This is due to the existence, in this type of metal complexes, of a pair of electrons located at high energy d-orbitals (dz2 or dx2-y2), which are adequate for interacting with antibonding σ-orbitals [σ*(X–Y)] where Y is usually an electron withdrawing element and X an element of the p-block. This type of d[M]→σ*(X–Y) interaction has been reported for metals of groups 9–11 in oxidation states +1 and +2 (d8 and d10) as electron donors and σ-holes located in halogen and chalcogen atoms as electron acceptors. To our knowledge, it has not been described for σ-holes located in pnictogen atoms. In this manuscript, evidence for the existence of pnictogen bonding involving the square planar Pt(II) metal as the electron donor and Sb as the electron acceptor is provided by using an X-ray structure retrieved from the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD) and theoretical calculations. In particular, the quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM), the noncovalent interaction plot (NCIPlot) and molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) methods were used. Moreover, to further confirm the nature of the Sb···Pt(II) contact, a recently developed method was used where the electron density (ED) and electrostatic potential (ESP) distribution were compared along the Sb···Pt(II) bond path.

Main group cyanides: from hydrogen cyanide to cyanido-complexes

Homoleptic cyanide compounds exist of almost all main group elements. While the alkali metals and alkaline earth metals form cyanide salts, the cyanides of the lighter main group elements occur mainly as covalent compounds. This review gives an overview of the status quo of main group element cyanides and cyanido complexes. Information about syntheses are included as well as applications, special substance properties, bond lengths, spectroscopic characteristics and computations. Cyanide chemistry is presented mainly from the field of inorganic chemistry, but aspects of chemical biology and astrophysics are also discussed in relation to cyano compounds.

On the Importance of σ–Hole Interactions in Crystal Structures

Elements from groups 14–18 and periods 3–6 commonly behave as Lewis acids, which are involved in directional noncovalent interactions (NCI) with electron-rich species (lone pair donors), π systems (aromatic rings, triple and double bonds) as well as nonnucleophilic anions (BF4−, PF6−, ClO4−, etc.). Moreover, elements of groups 15 to 17 are also able to act as Lewis bases (from one to three available lone pairs, respectively), thus presenting a dual character. These emerging NCIs where the main group element behaves as Lewis base, belong to the σ–hole family of interactions. Particularly (i) tetrel bonding for elements belonging to group 14, (ii) pnictogen bonding for group 15, (iii) chalcogen bonding for group 16, (iv) halogen bonding for group 17, and (v) noble gas bondings for group 18. In general, σ–hole interactions exhibit different features when moving along the same group (offering larger and more positive σ–holes) or the same row (presenting a different number of available σ–holes and directionality) of the periodic table. This is illustrated in this review by using several examples retrieved from the Cambridge Structural Database (CSD), especially focused on σ–hole interactions, complemented with molecular electrostatic potential surfaces of model systems.

Syntheses, Structures, and Infrared Spectra of the Hexa(cyanido) Complexes of Silicon, Germanium, and Tin

The rare octahedral EC₆ coordination skeleton type is unknown for complexes with coordination centers consisting of group 14 elements. Here, the first examples of such EC₆ species, the hexacoordinate homoleptic cyanido complexes E(CN)₆^2-, E = Si, Ge, Sn, have been synthesized from element halides SiCl₄, GeCl₄ and SnF₄ and isolated as salts with PPN counterions (PPN⁺ = (Ph₃P)₂N⁺) on a scale of 0.2-1 g. Characterization by spectroscopic techniques and by structure determination through single crystal crystallographic methods show that these pseudohalogen complexes have effective octahedral symmetry in solution and in the solid state. Infrared spectra obtained in solution reveal that the T_{1 u} symmetric IR-active vibrations in all three complexes have unusually small oscillator strengths. The observed reluctance of Si(CN)₆^2-, Ge(CN)₆^2-, and Sn(CN)₆^2- to form from chloro-precursors was rationalized in terms of Gibbs free energies, which were found by ab initio calculations at the CCSD(T)-F12b/aug-cc-pVTZ(-PP)-F12 level of theory to be small or even positive. The work demonstrates that E(CN)₆^2- complexes of silicon, germanium and tin are in fact stable at room temperature and exist as well-defined units in the presence of noncoordinating counterions. The results add to our understanding of the chemistry of pseudohalogens and structure and bonding.