Synthesis and characterization of group 12 complexes of N,N-methyl phenyl-N,N-butyl phenyl dithiocarbamate

Zn(II), Cd(II), and Hg(II) complexes of N-methyl-N-phenyl dithiocarbamate (L¹) and N-butyl-N-phenyl dithiocarbamate (L²) formulated as ML¹L² have been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, FT–IR, ¹H- and ¹³C-NMR spectroscopic techniques. Single-crystal X-ray structures of the Zn(II) and Hg(II) complexes are also reported. X-ray crystal structures revealed that in the zinc(II) complex, the dithiocarbamate is chelating and bridging, forming eight-member rings, while the Hg complex is monomeric with bidentate dithiocarbamate. In both complexes, the metals are in distorted tetrahedral geometry and the methyl and butyl groups of the dithiocarbamates exhibit compositional disorder between two positions.