Crystal structure and chemical bonding in tin(II) acetate

Tin(II) acetate was prepared and its crystal structure was solved from X-ray powder diffraction data. Tin(II) acetate adopts a polymeric structure consisting of infinite Sn(CH₃COO)₂ chains running along the c-axis which are packed into groups of four. The acetate groups bridge the Sn atoms along the chains. The Sn atoms are asymmetrically surrounded by four oxygen atoms with two short Sn–O distances (2.170(6), 2.207(6) Å) and two longer ones (2.293(7), 2.372(8) Å). The coordination environment of the Sn atoms is completed up to a strongly distorted trigonal bipyramid SnO₄E by the sterically active lone electron pair E. The coordination environment of the Sn atoms is virtually identical for Sn(CH₃COO)₂ in the gaseous and solid phase: the two short Sn–O bonds and the lone electron pair are located in the equatorial plane of the trigonal bipyramid and the two longer Sn–O bonds are directed towards the apical vertexes. Localization of the lone electron pair on Sn(II) was confirmed by electron localization function (ELF) analysis. The polymeric nature of the tin(II) acetate crystal structure was confirmed by a MALDI-TOF experiment.