Crystal structure determination of molecular compounds from conventional powder diffraction data: Trimeric silver(I) 3,5-dimethylpyrazolate

Abstract

In the absence of single crystals, silver(I) 3,5-dimethylpyrazolate, [Ag(dmpz)]3, has been structurally characterized by ab initio X-ray powder diffraction, using conventional laboratory data. Its crystals are triclinic, P1¯, with a=8.0876(10), b=11.1204(13), c=11.6136(16) Å, α=68.293(6), β=78.350(7), and γ=81.243(6)°. The structure has been solved by Patterson, difference Fourier, and geometrical modeling, and ultimately refined by the Rietveld method down to Rp=0.068, Rwp=0.085, and RF=0.055, for 4300 observations in the 17<2θ<103° range. Each molecule consists of a cyclic, trimeric assembly of Ag(dmpz) fragments, with the dmpz ligand bridging, in the exo-bidentate mode, nonbonded Ag…Ag edges.