A versatile hard–soft N/S-ligand for metal coordination and cluster formation

Abstract

Deprotonation of the thialdiphosphazane [SPH(μ-NtBu)]2 with a range of metal-bases gives the stable dianion [S-P(μ-NtBu)]22-, which is valence-isoelectronic with the widely-used [RN-P(μ-NR)]22- ligand. Structural studies show that the new ligand has adaptable hard-soft character with respect to the coordinated metal centre and that its multidentate nature can be exploited to construct large cage architectures.