Syntheses and crystal structures of five two-dimensional networks constructed from staircase-like silver(I) thiocyanate chains and bridging polyamines

Five co-ordination polymers (2)(infinity)[(AgSCN)(2)L] (L=1,2-diaminoethane, 1,3-diaminopropane, 1,4-diaminobutane or 1,5-diaminopentane) and (2)(infinity)[(AgSCN)(3)L] (L=N,N'-bis(3-aminopropyl)ethylenediamine) have been synthesized and structurally characterised by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Each complex contains one-dimensional staircase-like (1)(infinity)[(AgSCN)(2)] chains in which each thiocyanate ligand acts in the mu -N,S,S-bridging mode. Every silver(I) atom in the staircase-like chain is further co-ordinated by a terminal nitrogen atom of the amine ligand to furnish a highly distorted AgN2S2 tetrahedral geometry. Both ends of the amine ligands participate in co-ordination, extending the one-dimensional staircase-like (1)(infinity)[(AgSCN)(2)] chains to two-dimensional staircase-like or square-wave like (2)(infinity)[(AgSCN)(2)L] networks in 1-4, whereas adjacent chelating ethylenediamine entities of the amine ligands in 5 are further interlocked with the Ag-2(mu -S-SCN)(2) dinuclear cores, resulting in a different formula (2)(infinity)[(AgSCN)(3)L].