Crystal structure of dichloridobis(dimethyl N-cyanodithioiminocarbonate)zinc

The title complex consists of a ZnII atom coordinated by two Cl atoms and two dimethyl N-cyanodithioiminocarbonate ligands bonded through the terminal N atom in a distorted tetrahedral manner. The complex molecules interact through C—H⋯Cl and Cl⋯S interactions to give a layered structure in the crystal.


Chemical context
Two N and two S atoms in dimethyl N-cyanodithioiminocarbonate (DMCDIC), which are expected to act as hard and soft donors, respectively, according to Pearson's concept, give an interesting coordination potential to this molecule. However, only one structure of a metal complex with DMCDIC acting as a ligand has been reported (Kojić-Prodić et al., 1992). Very recently, we reported the crystal structure of [CoCl 2 (DMCDIC) 2 ] (Diop et al., 2016). Because of the scarcity of data on the coordination ability of DMCDIC, we have focused on studying the interactions between some transition metal halides and this ligand, which has yielded the title complex.

Structural commentary
The structure of the title compound ( Fig. 1) is isotypic with the Co complex reported recently (Diop et al., 2016). The Zn II atom is coordinated in a tetrahedral fashion by two Cl atoms ISSN 2056-9890 and the cyanide N atoms of two dimethyl N-cyanodithioiminocarbonate ligands. The Zn atom has a 4 value of 0.94 (Yang et al., 2007), indicating a near ideal tetrahedral geometry ( 4 = 1 for ideal tetrahedral and 0 for planar environments); 4 = [360 -( + )]/141, where and are the two largest tetrahedral angles.

Supramolecular features
In the crystal, weak C-HÁ Á ÁCl hydrogen bonds (C3-H3BÁ Á ÁCl1 ii and C7-H7BÁ Á ÁCl1 ii ; Table 1) link the molecules into inversion dimers (Fig. 2). The dimers are connected through a C4-H4BÁ Á ÁCl2 i hydrogen bond (Table 1)  Packing diagram of the title compound, viewed approximately along the c axis, showing a pair of molecules. Displacement ellipsoids are as in Fig. 1.

Figure 1
The molecular structure of the title compound. Anisotropic displacement ellipsoids are depicted at the 50% probability level and H atoms as spheres of an arbitrary radius.

Synthesis and crystallization
All chemicals are purchased from Aldrich Company, Germany and used as received. Dimethyl cyanocarbonimidodithioate was mixed in acetonitrile with ZnCl 2 in a 1:1 ratio. Colourless block-like single crystals suitable for X-ray diffraction were obtained after a slow solvent evaporation at room temperature (303 K).