The crystal and molecular structure of mercury(II) bis(isopropyl)dithiophosphate, Hg[S2P(OPri)2]2, revisited:: new comments about its supramolecular self-organization

The crystal structure of the title compound, Hg[S2P(OPri)(2)](2), has been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The compound crystallizes in the centrosymmetric P2(1)/c space group with a = 11.800(1), b = 8.925(2), c = 22.167(2) Angstrom, beta = 94.988(7)degrees and Z = 4. The same compound has been previously reported but the structure is described there in the space group C2/c. In both cases, one phosphorodithioate moiety acts as a chelating group and the other as a bridging group between neighboring mercury atoms (related to one another by the twofold screw axis), giving rise to an infinite polymer along the direction of the b axis. It turns out that in spite of the difference in space group symmetry, the structures are remarkable similar in that they are formed from infinite polymers of similar geometry. The coordination around the Hg ion shows, however, significant differences, mainly for the bridging Hg-S(4) bond length, which is 0.16 Angstrom smaller than that previously reported.