Distorted tetrahedral complexes of copper(I) and copper(II) displaying N2S2 co-ordination. X-Ray crystal structure of [2-(2-pyridyl)ethyl]bis[2-(ethylthio)ethyl]aminecopper(I) tetraphenylborate

Abstract

Reaction of the appropriate copper starting material with the new N₂S₂ ligand [2-(2-pyridyl)ethyl]bis[2-(ethylthio)ethyl]amine (pea)(A) which is constrained to pseudo-tetrahedral co-ordination, yields the Cu^I and Cu^II derivatives, [Cu(pea)]⁺ and [Cu(pea)]²⁺; the Cu^II species shows low energy d–d absorption bands suggesting a distorted co-ordination geometry and the X-ray structure of the Cu^I derivative confirms a pseudotetrahedral co-ordination environment.