R'Hg- and Ph3PAu-Derivatives of substituted malononitriles RCH(CN)2

The organomercurials RC(HgR')(CN)₂ (R = Me, Ph; R¹ = Ph, CH₂Ph) have been obtained by the action of organomercury hydroxides R'HgOH or acetates R'HgOAc on substituted malonodinitriles RCH(CN)₂- (Ph₃PAu₃O+BF₄ reacts with the same nitriles to give organogold derivatives RC(AuPPh₃)(CN)₂. The study of the structures of organomercury and -gold compounds by¹H,³¹P and¹⁹⁹Hg NMR spectra as well as by IR spectra show that these compounds exist mainly in the C-form. The degenerated exchange reaction involving the cleavage of C-Hg bond takes place in the phenylmercury derivative of methylmalonodinitrile. Organomercury derivatives of substituted malonodinitriles are stable with respect to symmetrization in solution, in contrast to PhCH(HgPh)CN studied previously.Translated fromIzvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 1, pp. 129–133, January, 1994.