New mercury(II) and cadmium(II) complexes with (p-methylbenzoyl)methylene triphenylphosphorane: Synthesis,spectroscopic and structural characterization

Reaction of Ph₃PCHCOC₆H₄Me (L), with HgX₂ and CdCl₂·H₂O in methanol with equimolar ratios give binuclear complexes of the type [MX(μ-X){CH(PPh₃)C(O)C₆H₄Me}]₂ (M = Hg; X = Cl (1), Br (2), I (3), M = Cd; Cl(4)). The bridge-splitting reaction of binuclear complexes [MX(μ-X){CH(PPh₃)C(O)C₆H₄Me}]₂ by dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) yields the mononuclear complexes [MX₂{CH(PPh₃)C(O)C₆H₄Me}(OSMe₂)] (M = Hg; X = Cl (5), Br (6), I (7), M = Cd; Cl (8)). The characterization of these complexes was carried out by elemental analysis and FT-IR, ¹H, ³¹P, and ¹³C NMR spectroscopies. C-coordination of ylide and O-coordination of DMSO are demonstrated by single-crystal X-ray analysis of mononuclear complex of [HgBr₂{CH(PPh₃)C(O)C₆H₄Me}(OSMe₂)] (6). Complex 6 is monomeric with tetrahedral geometry around the metal ion.