Crystal structure and Hirshfeld surface analysis of lithium chloride and lithium bromide with dimethyl ether ligands

Lithium chloride and bromide dimethyl ether adducts, di-μ-chlorido-bis-[bis-(dimethyl ether-κO)lithium], [Li₂Cl₂(DME)₄] (1), and di-μ-bromido-bis-[bis-(dimethyl ether-κO)lithium], [Li₂Br₂(DME)₄] (2) [DME is dimethyl ether, C₂H₆O], have been characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Both com-pounds crystallize as dimers, in which the lithium ions are tetra-hedrally coordinated by two μ-halide ions and two O-centres from the DME ligands. In 1, the dimers form two-dimensional layers defined by CH₃⋯Cl tetrel bonds, while the bromide analogue assembles into planar sheets featuring CH₃⋯CH₃ contacts. Hirshfeld surface analyses reveal that H⋯H and halogen-hy-dro-gen inter-actions dominate the inter-molecular contacts. The results demonstrate that even the simplest ether, dimethyl ether, can act as an effective coordinating ligand toward lithium halides and influence their aggregation and supra-molecular organization. Thereby, this study explores new advances into the preparation and handling of sophisticated coordination com-pounds with gaseous ligands.