Synthesis and crystal structure of a silver(I) 6-methylmercaptopurine riboside complex

Silver nitrate reacts with 6-methylmercaptopurine riboside (6-MMPR) in aqueous solution containing methanol and dimethyl sulfoxide at room temperature to give a colourless crystalline complex, namely, bis(6-methylmercaptopurine riboside-κN⁷)(nitrato-κ²O,O′)silver(I) 2.32-hydrate, [Ag(NO₃)(C₁₁H₁₄N₄O₄S)₂]·2.32H₂O. The crystal structure, determined from synchrotron diffraction data, shows a central Ag^I ion on a crystallographic twofold rotation axis, coordinated in an almost linear fashion by two 6-MMPR ligands via atom N7 (purine numbering), with the nitrate counter-ion loosely coordinated as a bidentate ligand, forming a discrete molecular complex as an approximate dihydrate. The complex and water molecules are connected in a three-dimensional network by hydrogen bonding.