1,2-Bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane nickel(II)dithiocarbamate as potential precursor for nickel sulfide: Effect of counter anion on phase and morphology

•[Ni(dppe)(dtc)]+X− synthesized with variable counter anions.•The complexes were investigated via an integrated multi-technique experimental approach.•Study suggests their applications as precursor for nickel sulfide material.•The effect of bulkiness of the counter anions on the phase and morphology observed.

One heteroleptic Ni(II)dppe dithiocarbamate complex cation [Ni{S2CN(CH2)4CHOH)}(dppe)]+ with three different counter anions viz. PF6− (1), BPh4− (2) and BF4− (3) have been synthesized and characterized by microanalysis, IR, UV–Vis, 1H, 13C and 31P NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. The crystal structure of 2 displayed distorted square planar geometry around Ni(II) center bonded through sulfur atoms of the dithiocarbamate ligand and two phosphorus atoms of the dppe. TGA results indicated that all the three compounds display loss of solvents at the outset and decompose to Ni–S phase systems. The nickel sulfides obtained from decomposition of 1–3 have been characterized by pXRD and SEM. The effect of the bulkiness of the counter anions on the phase and morphology of decomposed product have been observed using pXRD and SEM analysis. The UV–Vis and photoluminescent spectroscopy of the three decomposed product have been performed.

Graphical abstractOne heteroleptic Ni(II)dppe dithiocarbamate complex cation with three different counter anions synthesized and decomposed to obtain the Ni–S systems with different phases and morphology.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide