The amine coordination of lead(II) has been examined through the preparation and structural analysis of Lewis base adducts of bis(thiolato)lead(II) complexes. Reaction of Pb(OAc)(2) with 2,6-dimethylbenzenethiol affords (2,6-Me(2)C(6)H(3)S)(2)Pb (6) in high yield. The solubility of 6 in organic solvents allows for the preparation of the 1:2 Lewis acid-base adduct [(2,6-Me(2)C(6)H(3)S)(2)Pb(py)(2)](7), and 1:1 adducts [(2,6-Me(2)C(6)H(3)S)(2)Pb(micro(2)-bipy)](infinity](8) and [(2,6-Me(2)C(6)H(3)S)(2)Pb(micro(2)-pyr)](infinity)(9)(where py = pyridine, bipy = 4,4'-bipyridyl and pyr = pyrazine) from reaction with an excess of the appropriate amine. In contrast to 7, reaction of (C(6)H(5)S)(2)Pb (1) with pyridine afforded the 2:1 adduct [(C(6)H(5)S)(4)Pb(2)(py)](infinity)(10). Compounds were characterized via elemental analysis, FT-IR, solution (1)H and (13)C[(1)H](6) NMR spectroscopy, and X-ray crystallography (7-10). The structures of 7-9 show the thiolate groups occupying two equatorial positions and two amine nitrogen atoms occupying axial coordination sites, yielding distorted see-saw coordination geometries, or distorted trigonal bipyramids if an equatorial lone pair on lead is considered. The absence of intermolecular contacts in 7 and 8 result in monomeric and one-dimensional polymeric structures, respectively. Weak Pb...S intermolecular contacts in 9 result in the formation of a two-dimensional macrostructure. In contrast, the structure of , shows extensive intermolecular Pb...S interactions, resulting in five- and six-coordinate bonding environments for lead(II), and a complex polymeric structure in the solid state. This demonstrates the ability of the 2,6-dimethylphenylthiolate ligand to limit intermolecular lead-sulfur interactions, while allowing the axial coordination of amine Lewis base ligands.

Coordination complexes of (2,6-Me2C6H3S)2Pb (1) with flexible bidentate ligands have been prepared to explore new bonding environments for Pb(II) thiolates. The reaction of 1 with a series of ethylenediamine and ethylenediphosphine ligands resulted in isolation of the adducts [(2,6-Me2C6H3S)2Pb]2(tmeda) (9), [(2,6-Me2C6H3S)2Pb]3(dmpe) (10) and [(2,6-Me2C6H3S)2Pb]2(dppe) (11) [tmeda = N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine; dmpe = bis(dimethylphosphino)ethane; dppe = bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane]. The X-ray crystal structure of 9 shows a dinuclear species in which tmeda is chelating a ψ-trigonal bipyramidal S2N2 Pb centre via axial and equatorial sites. The structure of 10 displays a trinuclear structural unit in which dmpe is chelating a ψ-trigonal bipyramidal S2P2 Pb centre via equatorial sites. Compounds 9 and 10 also contain a second unique metal centre with ψ-tetrahedral S3Pb bonding motifs. The structure of 11 shows the dppe ligand bridging two Pb ψ-tetrahedral S2P metal bonding environments. Static (207)Pb solid-state NMR (SSNMR) spectra of 9-11 and [Ph4As][(PhS)3Pb] (12) were acquired with cross polarization (CP)-CPMG and frequency swept pulse (WURST)-CPMG pulse sequences, and the efficiencies of these pulse sequences are compared. The (207)Pb SSNMR spectra reveal that the lead chemical shift anisotropies (CSA) vary greatly between the different Pb sites, and are generally large in magnitude. DFT calculations are utilized to relate the orientations of the (207)Pb nuclear magnetic shielding tensors to the molecular structures, and to aid in spectral assignment where multiple Pb centres are present. The combination of X-ray diffraction, (207)Pb SSNMR and DFT is shown to be invaluable for the structural characterization of these important structural motifs, and should find wide-ranging application to numerous lead coordination compounds.

The title compound, [Pb(C6F5S)2(C5H5N)2]n, shows the PbII atom in a ψ-trigonal bipyramidal S2N2 bonding environment. Pyridine N atoms occupy axial sites, while thiol­ate S atoms and a stereochemically active lone pair occupy equatorial sites. Very long inter­molecular Pb⋯S inter­actions [3.618 (4) and 3.614 (4) Å] yield a weakly associated one-dimensional polymeric structure extending parallel to [010].