Benzotriazolate cage complexes of tin(ii) and lithium: Halide-influenced serendipitous assembly

摘要

The one-pot reactions of the tin(ii) halides SnX2 (X = F, Cl, Br, I) with lithium hexamethyldisilazide, [Li(hmds)], and benzotriazole, (bta)H, produce contrasting outcomes. Tin(ii) fluoride does not react with [Li(hmds)] and (bta)H, the outcome being the formation of insoluble [Li(bta)] ∞. Tin(ii) chloride and tin(ii) bromide react with [Li(hmds)] and (bta)H in toluene to produce the hexadecametallic tin(ii)-lithium cages [(hmds)8Sn8(bta)12Li8X 4]·(n toluene) [X = Cl, 3·(8 toluene); X = Br, 4·(3 toluene)]. The reaction of tin(ii) iodide with [Li(hmds)] and (bta)H in thf solvent produces the ion-separated species [{(thf)2Li(bta)} 3{Li(thf)}]2[SnI4]·(thf), [5] 2[SnI4]·(thf), the structure of which contains a cyclic trimeric unit of lithium benzotriazolate and a rare example of the tetraiodostannate(ii) dianion. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2011.