An alkali metal phenoxide with an unusual dimeric crystal structure: [Na(OC6H3But-2,6)(µ-Me2SO)(Me2SO)]2

Abstract

Metallic sodium reacts with 2,6-di-tert-butylphenol to yield bis(2,6-di-tert-butylphenoxo)bis(µ-dimethyl sulfoxo)-bis(dimethyl sulfoxo)disodium 1 when Me₂SO is used as recrystallization medium; the crystal structure of compound 1 shows an unusual feature, where the solvent molecule acts as the bridging group; usually in alkali metal phenoxides the bridge is formed by the bulky phenoxo ligand.