Synthesis and characterisation of three Group 10 metal dithiadiazolyl complexes

Reaction of (PhCNSSN)(2) with [Pt(PPh(3))(3)] or [Pt(PPh(3))(4)] produced two complexes [Pt{SNC(Ph)NS-S,S'}(PPh(3))(2)] 1 and [Pt-3{mu-SNC(Ph)NS-S,S'}(2)(PPh(3))(4)] 2. In contrast, reaction with [Pd(PPh(3))(4)] yielded only the trimetallic complex [Pd-3{mu-SNC(Ph)NS-S,S'}(2)(PPh(3))(4)] 3. The three complexes were characterised by X-ray crystallography as the following solvates: 1 . MeCN, 2 . 2C(6)H(5)Me and 3 . 2CH(2)Cl(2). In all three structures the S-S bond is formally broken [d(ss) in 1, 2 and 3 are 3.168(4), 3.046(8) and 3.044(8) Angstrom respectively], the metals increase their oxidation states to +2 and possess square-planar co-ordination geometries. The physical properties of the complexes are described and the biological activities of 1 and 2 are reported.