Isostructural Pd(II) and Pt(II) pyrophosphato complexes: polymorphism and unusual bond character in d8-d8 systems

Isostructural, "clamshell"-like, neutral dimeric pyrophosphato complexes of general formula {[M(bipy)](2)(μ-P(2)O(7))} [M = Pd(II) (1) or Pt(II) (2)] were synthesized and studied through single-crystal X-ray diffraction, IR, (31)P NMR spectroscopy, and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Compound 1 was synthesized through the reaction of palladium(II) acetate, 2,2'-bipyridine (bipy), and sodium pyrophosphate (Na(4)P(2)O(7)) in water. Compound 2 was prepared through two different routes. The first involved the reaction of the Pt(IV) precursor Na(2)PtCl(6), bipy, and Na(4)P(2)O(7) in water, followed by reduction in DMF. The second involved the reaction of the Pt(II) precursor K(2)PtCl(4), bipy, and Na(4)P(2)O(7) in water. Both complexes crystallize in the monoclinic chiral space group Cc as hexahydrates, 1·6H(2)O (1a, yellow crystals) and 2·6H(2)O (2a, orange crystals), and exhibit a zigzag chain-like supramolecular packing arrangement with short and long intra/intermolecular metal-metal distances [3.0366(3)/4.5401(3) Å in 1a; 3.0522(3)/4.5609(3) Å in 2a]. A second crystalline phase of the Pt species was also isolated, with formula 2·3.5H(2)O (2b, deep green crystals), characterized by a dimer-of-dimers (pseudo-tetramer) structural submotif. Green crystals of 2b could be irreversibly converted to the orange form 2a by exposure to air or water, without retention of crystallinity, while a partial, reversible crystal-to-crystal transformation occurred when 2a was dried in vacuo. (31)P NMR spectra recorded for both 1 and 2 at various pHs revealed the occurrence of a fluxional protonated/deprotonated system in solution, which was interpreted as being composed, in the protonated form, of [HO=PO(3)](+) (P(α)) and O=PO(3) (P(β)) pyrophosphate subunits. Compounds 1 and 2 exhibited two successive one-electron oxidations, mostly irreversible in nature; however, a dependence upon pH was observed for 1, with oxidation only occurring in strongly basic conditions. Density functional theory and atoms in molecules analyses showed that a d(8)-d(8) interaction was present in 1 and 2.