The molecular structure of [bis-triphenylphosphine-silver(I) stearate], [((C6H5)3P)2Ag(O2C(CH2)16CH3)], solubilization of long alkyl chain silver carboxylates

The crystal and molecular structure of [bis-triphenylphosphine-silver(I) stearate], [((C₆H₅)₃P)₂Ag(O₂C(CH₂)₁₆CH₃)], has been determined by single crystal X-ray analysis: the space group is PT witha=12.021(4),b=13.916(5)1,c=14.678(5) Å, =95.952(5), =101.249(6), =93.259(5)°,V=2388(2) ų, andD_calc=1.293 g/cm³ forZ=2. The silver is four coordinate: the carboxylate symmetrically chelates the silver while the triphenylphosphine ligands occupy the third and fourth coordination sites. The strong bonding nature of the phosphine ligands, as indicated by the Ag–P bond lengths, 2.446(3) and 2.424(3) Å, dominates the coordination sphere of the silver and forces the initial carboxylate ligand to rearrange from bridging to chelating resulting in weaker Ag–O bonds, as indicated by the extended Ag–O bond lengths, 2.399(8) and 2.449(8) Å. Unlike the free acid, the long hydrocarbon chain is not linear, and exhibits disorder in the lattice. The structure of the title complex explains the dramatic shift in solubility properties compared to the starting phosphine free silver carboxylate.