The crystal structure of catena- (μ-[2-Methyl-2-(phenylthio)propanoato- O, O']- (tris-μ-[2-methyl-2-(phenylthio)propanoato- O, 0']-dizinc(II)))

The crystal structure of the anhydrous zinc(II) complex of 2-methyl-2-(phenylthio)propanoic acid, with formula [Zn(CHO)], has been determined by X-ray diffraction at 20°C and refined to a residual R 0·041 for 2885 observed reflections. Crystals are monoclinic, space group P2, with two dimer units of the polymer in a unit cell with dimensions a 12·710(4), b 13·760(2), c 12·699(6) Å, β 95·44(5)°. The polymer structure is based on a repeating tris-carboxylate-bridged dimer unit with each zinc centre tetrahedral [Zn-O (mean) 1·958(5) Å, Zn-Zn 3·393(2) Å]. The dimer is extended into a linear polymer chain by an O, O' bridge through the carboxy group of the fourth carboxylate ligand