N,N,N′,N′-Tetramethyl-N,N′-dipropylethane-1,2-diaminium tetrachloridocobaltate(II)

The crystal structure of the title compound, (C12H30N2)[CoCl4], is composed of discrete (C12H30N2)2+ cations and [CoCl4]2− anions. The asymmetric unit contains a half-cation and a half-anion. The atoms of the cation occupy general positions about an inversion centre, which is located at the midpoint of the central C—C bond. The Co atoms lie on a twofold rotation axis. The slightly distorted tetrahedral coordination environment around the metal atom consists of two Cl atoms and their symmetry-related pairs.

The crystal structure of the title compound, (C 12 H 30 N 2 )- [CoCl 4 ], is composed of discrete (C 12 H 30 N 2 ) 2+ cations and [CoCl 4 ] 2À anions. The asymmetric unit contains a half-cation and a half-anion. The atoms of the cation occupy general positions about an inversion centre, which is located at the midpoint of the central C-C bond. The Co atoms lie on a twofold rotation axis. The slightly distorted tetrahedral coordination environment around the metal atom consists of two Cl atoms and their symmetry-related pairs.
Financial support from the Academy of Finland is gratefully acknowledged. N,N,N', S. M. Närhi, J. Kostamo, J. Asikkala, R. Oilunkaniemi and R. S. Laitinen

Comment
The asymmetric unit of (C 12 H 30 N 2 )[CoCl 4 ] consists of half of the cation and half of the anion (see Fig. 1). The N-C bond lengths in the cation range from 1.501 (3) to 1.530 (3) Å and the C-C bond lengths from 1.509 (4) to 1.525 (4) Å. These can be compared to the bond lengths in the related chloride and bromide (Närhi et al. 2011). In the title compound, the two n-propyl chains are almost coplanar with the N1-C1-C1 ii -N1 ii skeleton with all torsional angles ca 180 °, whereas in (C 12 H 30 N 2 )Cl 2 and (C 12 H 30 N 2 )Br 2 the n-propyl chains are in the anti-configuration with respect to the corresponding NCCN skeleton (Närhi et al. 2011). The cobalt atom shows a slightly distorted tetrahedral coordination geometry and the Co-Cl bond lengths of 2.2731 (9) Å and 2.2759 (8) Å are quite normal.
The packing of the title compound consists of layers of cations. The isolated anions lay between these layers with several hydrogen bonds connecting the anions and cations, as shown in Fig. 2. The packing of the molecules is shown in Fig. 3.

Experimental
Addition of solution of (C 12 H 30 N 2 )Cl 2 (0.118 g, 0.432 mmol) in 5 ml MeOH to solution of CoCl 2 . 6 H 2 O (0.103 g, 0.433 mmol) in 5 ml MeOH gave a purple solution from which the title compound was obtained as crystalline blue precipitate.

Refinement
H atoms were positioned geometrically and refined using a riding model with C-H = 0.99 Å and with U iso (H) = 1.2 U eq (C) and 0.98 Å and U iso (H) = 1.2 U eq (C)for the methylene and methyl H atoms, respectively.
Figures Fig. 1. The molecular structure of the title compound indicating the numbering of the atoms. The thermal ellipsoids have been drawn at 50% probability. Symmetry code: Crystal data (C 12

Special details
Geometry. All s.u.'s (except the s.u. in the dihedral angle between two l.s. planes) are estimated using the full covariance matrix. The Refinement. Refinement of F 2 against ALL reflections. The weighted R-factor wR and goodness of fit S are based on F 2 , conventional R-factors R are based on F, with F set to zero for negative F 2 . The threshold expression of F 2 > 2σ(F 2 ) is used only for calculating Rfactors(gt) etc. and is not relevant to the choice of reflections for refinement. R-factors based on F 2 are statistically about twice as large as those based on F, and R-factors based on ALL data will be even larger.

Fractional atomic coordinates and isotropic or equivalent isotropic displacement parameters (Å 2 )
x y z U iso */U eq