Bis(N-benzyl-N-furfuryldithiocarbamato-S,S′)mercury(II) as a precursor for the preparation of mercury sulfide nanoparticles

Dithiocarbamate Complexes as Single Source Precursors to Nanoscale Binary, Ternary and Quaternary Metal Sulfides

Nanodimensional metal sulfides are a developing class of low-cost materials with potential applications in areas as wide-ranging as energy storage, electrocatalysis, and imaging. An attractive synthetic strategy, which allows careful control over stoichiometry, is the single source precursor (SSP) approach in which well-defined molecular species containing preformed metal-sulfur bonds are heated to decomposition, either in the vapor or solution phase, resulting in facile loss of organics and formation of nanodimensional metal sulfides. By careful control of the precursor, the decomposition environment and addition of surfactants, this approach affords a range of nanocrystalline materials from a library of precursors. Dithiocarbamates (DTCs) are monoanionic chelating ligands that have been known for over a century and find applications in agriculture, medicine, and materials science. They are easily prepared from nontoxic secondary and primary amines and form stable complexes with all elements. Since pioneering work in the late 1980s, the use of DTC complexes as SSPs to a wide range of binary, ternary, and multinary sulfides has been extensively documented. This review maps these developments, from the formation of thin films, often comprised of embedded nanocrystals, to quantum dots coated with organic ligands or shelled by other metal sulfides that show high photoluminescence quantum yields, and a range of other nanomaterials in which both the phase and morphology of the nanocrystals can be engineered, allowing fine-tuning of technologically important physical properties, thus opening up a myriad of potential applications.

Exploring the Topological Landscape Exhibited by Binary Zinc-triad 1,1-dithiolates

The crystal chemistry of the zinc-triad binary 1,1-dithiolates, that is, compounds of xanthate [−S2COR], dithiophosphate [−S2P(OR)2], and dithiocarbamate [−S2CNR2] ligands, is reviewed. Owing to a wide range of coordination modes that can be adopted by 1,1-dithiolate anions, such as monodentate, chelating, μ2-bridging, μ3-bridging, etc., there exists a rich diversity in supramolecular assemblies for these compounds, including examples of zero-, one-, and two-dimensional architectures. While there are similarities in structural motifs across the series of 1,1-dithiolate ligands, specific architectures are sometimes found, depending on the metal centre and/or on the 1,1-dithiolate ligand. Further, an influence of steric bulk upon supramolecular aggregation is apparent. Thus, bulky R groups generally preclude the close approach of molecules in order to reduce steric hindrance and therefore, lead to lower dimensional aggregation patterns. The ligating ability of the 1,1-dithiolate ligands also proves crucial in determining the extent of supramolecular aggregation, in particular for dithiocarbamate species where the relatively greater chelating ability of this ligand reduces the Lewis acidity of the zinc-triad element, which thereby reduces its ability to significantly expand its coordination number. Often, the functionalisation of the organic substituents in the 1,1-dithiolate ligands, for example, by incorporating pyridyl groups, can lead to different supramolecular association patterns. Herein, the diverse assemblies of supramolecular architectures are classified and compared. In all, 27 structurally distinct motifs have been identified.

Bis[bis(N-2-hydroxyethyl,N-isopropyl-dithiocarbamato)mercury(II)]2: crystal structure and Hirshfeld surface analysis

The presence of both κ2-chelating and μ2,κ2-tridentate bridging dithiocarbamate ligands in centrosymmetric {Hg[S2CN(iPr)CH2CH2OH]2}2 (1) leads to globular aggregates that are linked into a three-dimensional architecture via hydroxyl-O–H···O(hydroxy) hydrogen bonding. The structure contrasts that of Hg[S2CN(CH2CH2OH)2]2 (2; this is a literature structure) in which square planar units are connected into supramolecular chains via Hg···S secondary bonding; chains are connected in the crystal structure by hydroxyl-O–H···O(hydroxy) hydrogen bonding. A Hirshfeld surface analysis on 1 and 2 reveal the influence of O–H···O and Hg···S interactions on the molecular packing as well as the distinctive interactions, such as C–H···S interactions in 1 and C–H···π (HgS2C) contacts in 2. A bibliographic survey shows the different structural motifs observed for 1 and 2 are complimented by an additional five motifs for binary mercury(II) dithiocarbamates revealing a fascinating structural diversity for this class of compound.