Synthesis and characterization of the first diorganotin(IV) complexes containing mixed arylazobenzoic acids and having skew trapezoidal bipyramidal geometry

Three diorganotin(IV) complexes of the type, R₂Sn(L^aH)(L^bH)] (R = ⁿBu or Me and, L^aH and L^bH are two different 5-(E)-2-(aryl)-1-diazenyl]-2-hydroxybenzoate residues; a: aryl = 4′-Cl-(held constant) and b: aryl = 4′-Me or 4′-Br) have been prepared either by reacting ⁿBu₂SnO, L^aHH′ and L^bHH′ (1:1:1) in anhydrous toluene or by reacting Me₂SnCl₂, L^aHNa and L^bHNa (1:1:1) in anhydrous methanol. The products were characterized by microanalysis, IR, NMR (¹H, ¹³C, ¹¹⁹Sn) and ^119mSn Mössbauer spectroscopy. A full characterization of the structures of the complexes ⁿBu₂Sn(L^aH)(L^bH)] (1 and 2) and Me₂Sn(L^aH)(L^bH)] (3) in the solid state were accomplished by single crystal X-ray crystallography. These complexes were found to adopt the usual dicarboxylato structural type with a skew-trapezoidal bipyramidal arrangement around the tin atom.