The coordinating environments provided by the1-(5,6-dimethylbenzimidazolyl)-3-benzimidazolyl-2-thiapropane(
1),1-(5,6-dimethylbenzimidazolyl)-3-benzimidazolyl-2-oxapropane(
2),1-(
N-methyl)benzimidazolyl-3-benzimidazolyl-2-oxapropane (
3), and1,7-bis(benzimidazol-2-yl)-2,6-dithiaheptane (
4)ligands for a series of soft-to-borderline metal ions have been demonstrated by crystallographicstructure determination in the solid state,supplemented by multinuclear NMR studies in solution. Structuresof[Zn(
3)(H
2O)(MeCN)](ClO
4)
2([C
19H
21N
5O
2Zn](ClO
4)
2, monoclinic, space group
P2
1/
c,
a =10.3247(11) Å,
b = 11.0320(12) Å,
c= 20.761(2) Å,
=96.465(3)
,
V = 2349.7(4) Å
3,
Z = 4),[Zn(
1)Cl
2]·CH
3OH([C
18H
18Cl
2N
4SZn]·CH
4O,triclinic, space group
P,
a = 9.0917(9) Å,
b = 9.9186(10)Å,
c = 12.2079(12) Å,
= 99.710(3)
,
= 94.252(2),
= 95.598(3)
,
V=1075.3(2) Å
3,
Z = 2),[Hg(
1)Br
2]·CH
3OH([C
18H
18Br
2HgN
4S]·CH
4O,triclinic, space group
P,
a =9.1956(12)Å,
b = 9.9775(13) Å,
c =12.462(2) Å,
= 99.239(3),
= 97.676(3)
,
= 94.036(3)
,
V = 1113.4(3)Å
3,
Z= 2), [Cd(
1)Cl
2]([C
18H
18CdCl
2N
4S],monoclinic, space group
P2
1/
n,
a = 14.5219(11) Å,
b = 8.5315(7)Å,
c =15.6182(12) Å,
= 92.063(2)
,
V =1933.7(3) Å
3,
Z = 4), and[Ag(
4)](NO
3)([C
19H
20AgN
4S](NO
3),monoclinic,space group
C2/
c,
a =13.7339(3) Å,
b = 17.2710(1) Å,
c= 9.8866(2) Å,
= 115.399(1)
,
V =2118.4(1) Å
3,
Z = 4) have been determined. Ligand
3provided the expected N
2O donor set to Zn(II) formingpart of a pseudo-trigonal bipyramidal coordinating environment, tentatively extrapolatedto the Zn(II), Cd(II), and Hg(II) complexesof ligand
2 from
1H NMR studies. Thethioether-bridged ligands (
1 and
4) displayed astrikingly differentcoordination mode; in none of these structures was the thioether foundto be coordinated to the central metal ion,resulting in pseudotetrahedral structures for the Zn(II) andHg(II) complexes of ligand
1, abis(chloro)-bridgeddimeric five-coordinate complex of Cd(II) with ligand
1, and a near-linear coordination mode for the Ag(I)complexof ligand
4. No significant distinction in geometricparameters around the metal ions could be observedresultingfrom the introduction of asymmetry and a change ofp
Ka within the bis(benzimidazole) ligands.Using
199HgNMR spectroscopy, it was demonstrated that the thioether of ligand
1 did not coordinate in solutions of the 1:1HgBr
2 complex; negligible shifts of the signalscorresponding to the aliphatic bridging protons in the
1HNMRspectra of ligand
1 when coordinated to Zn(II),Cd(II), and Hg(II) also suggested a noncoordinatingbehavior.Exchanges occurring in mixtures of HgBr
2 and ligand
1 were examined using
199Hg,
13C, and
1H NMR. It isconsidered that there is little or no exchange occurring in a region ofexcess mercury on the
199Hg NMR timescale, and in a region of excess ligand
1 the 1/1 complexpredominates.