New mercury(II) and cadmium(II) complexes with (p-methylbenzoyl)methylene triphenylphosphorane: Synthesis, spectroscopic and structural characterization

Reaction of Ph3PCHCOC6H4Me (L), with HgX2 and CdCl2·H2O in methanol with equimolar ratios give binuclear complexes of the type [MX(μ-X){CH(PPh3)C(O)C6H4Me}]2 (M = Hg; X = Cl (1), Br (2), I (3), M = Cd; Cl(4)). The bridge-splitting reaction of binuclear complexes [MX(μ-X){CH(PPh3)C(O)C6H4Me}]2 by dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) yields the mononuclear complexes [MX2{CH(PPh3)C(O)C6H4Me}(OSMe2)] (M = Hg; X = Cl (5), Br (6), I (7), M = Cd; Cl (8)). The characterization of these complexes was carried out by elemental analysis and FT-IR, 1H, 31P, and 13C NMR spectroscopies. C-coordination of ylide and O-coordination of DMSO are demonstrated by single-crystal X-ray analysis of mononuclear complex of [HgBr2{CH(PPh3)C(O)C6H4Me}(OSMe2)] (6). Complex 6 is monomeric with tetrahedral geometry around the metal ion.