Nuclear magnetic resonance studies on the anions [M(SnCl3)5Cl]4− (M = Ru, Os) and [Ru(SnCl3)5(MeCN)]3−: the X-ray crystal structure of [N(C2H5)4]4[Ru(SnCl3)5Cl]

Abstract

The octahedral anions [M(SnCl3)5Cl]4− (M = Ru, Os) have been fully characterized by 119Sn FT nmr spectroscopy. For M = Ru, 117Sn and 115Sn nmr spectra were also recorded, and an X-ray crystallographic study was carried out on the tetraethylammonium salt, isolated as a disolvate from acetonitrile. The Ru—Sn bond lengths indicate some degree of dπ–dπ interactions. The slight distortions from octahedral geometry are discussed in connection with the packing of the chlorine atoms. The Sn nmr spectra reveal the first observed coupling to a 99Ru nucleus (I = 5/2, 12.7% natural abundance), very large 2J(119Sn—117Sn) coupling constants, and the first observed second-order effects on a heteronuclear system. The octahedral anion [Ru(SnCl3)5(MeCN)]3− was also synthesized as the tetraethylammonium salt and characterized spectroscopically.