Supramolecular organization in catena-poly{diethyl[3-(2-pyridyl)-2-sulfanylpropenoato]tin(IV)} and related diorganotin(IV) sulfanylcarboxylato compounds

Reaction of 3-(2-aryl)-2-sulfanylpropenoic acids with diorganotin(IV) oxides afforded compounds of the type [SnR2L] [R = Me, Et, Bu-n or Ph; H2L = 3-(2-thienyl)-, -(phenyl)- or -(2-pyridyl)-2-sulfanylpropenoic acid]. The structure of [SnEt2(pyspa)] was determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction and shown to be polymeric, with the tin atom in a distorted trigonal-bipyramidal environment created by intramolecular bonds to a C atom of each of two ethyl groups and to a sulfur and a carboxylic oxygen of the pyspa ligand together with an additional intermolecular Sn-O bond. Mass, Mossbauer, IR, Raman and NMR spectroscopy of the other eleven compounds prepared suggests similar polymeric structures for all.