Influence of metal and ligand types on stacking interactions of phenyl rings with square-planar transition metal complexes

In order to find out whether metal type influences the stacking interactions of phenyl rings in square-planar complexes, geometrical parameters for Cu, Ni, Pd and Pt complexes, with and without chelate rings, were analyzed and compared. By searching the Cambridge Structural Database, 220 structures with Cu complexes, 211 with Ni complexes, 285 with Pd complexes, and 220 with Pt complexes were found. The results show that the chelate ring has a tendency to make the stacking interaction with the phenyl ring independent of metal type in the chelate ring. However, there are some differences among metals for complexes without a chelate ring. There are a number of structures containing Pd and Pt complexes, without chelate rings, that have short carbon-metal distances and parallel orientations of the phenyl ring with respect to the coordination plane. It was found that some of these complexes have a common fragment, CN, as a part of the ligands. This indicates that the CN supports stacking interactions of square planar complexes with the phenyl ring.