Di- and tetranuclear silver (I)-saccharinate complexes with 2-pyridineethanol and 2-pyridinepropanol: Syntheses, crystal structures, spectroscopic and thermal analyses of [Ag-2(sac)(2)(pyet)(2)] and [Ag-4(sac)(4)(pypr)(2)]

Two new (saccharinato)silver (I) complexes, [Ag-2(sac)(2)(pyet)(2)] and [Ag-4(sac)(4)(pypr)(2)] (sac = saccharinate, pyet = 2-pyridineethanol and pypr = 2-pyridinepropanol), have been prepared and characterized by elemental analyses, IR, thermal analysis and single crystal X-ray diffraction. Both complexes crystallize in triclinic space group of P (1) over bar. In [Ag-2(sac)(2)(pyet)(2)], two monomeric [Ag(sac)(2)-(pyet)] units are doubly bridged by the sulfonyl oxygen atoms of the sac ligands, forming an [Ag-2(sac)(2)(pyet)(2)] dimer, in which each silver (I) centre is three coordinate with a T-shaped coordination and the (AgAg)-Ag-... separation is 5.205 angstrom. The dimeric units are connected by strong O-(HOsulfonyl)-O-... intermolecular hydrogen bonds into a one-dimensional chain running parallel to b. The one-dimensional hydrogen bonded chains are further linked by pi(sac)-pi(pyet) stacking interactions. The tetranuclear complex, [Ag-4(sac)(4)(pypr)(2)], is achieved by bridging of [Ag-2(sac)(2)] with two [Ag(sac)(pypr)] units through the sulfonyl oxygen atoms of the sac ligands. The two silver (1) ions in the centre with a short Ag-Ag bond distance of 2.8480(13) angstrom exhibit a T-shaped geometry with three sac ligands, while the two terminal silver (I) ions are coordinated by a sac ligand and a pypr ligand in a near linear geometry. The tetranuclear units are held together by O-(HO)-O-... and C-(HO)-O-... hydrogen bonds. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.