Crystal structures of 9-[bis(benzylsulfanyl)methyl]anthracene and of cyclo -dodecakis(μ 2 -phenylmethanethiolato-κ 2 S : S )hexapalladium(6 Pd — Pd )–anthracene-9,10-dione (1/1)

International audienceThe first title compound, C 29 H 24 S 2 , L1 , represents an example of an anthracene-based functionalized dithioether, which may be useful as a potential chelating or terminal ligand for coordination chemistry. This dithioacetal L1 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P 2 1 / c . The phenyl rings of the benzyl groups and that of the anthracene unit form dihedral angles of 49.21 (4) and 58.79 (5)° and the crystal structure displays short C–H...π contacts. Surprisingly, when attempting to coordinate L1 to [PdCl 2 (PhCN) 2 ], instead of the targeted chelate complex [PdCl 2 (κ 2 - L1 )], a cleavage reaction leads to the formation of the centrosymmetric hexanuclear cyclic cluster of composition [Pd 6 (μ 2 -SCH 2 Ph) 12 ] Pd6 , or [Pd 6 (C 7 H 7 S) 12 ]·C 14 H 8 O 2 . This tiara-shaped hexamer crystallizing in the triclinic space group P \overline{1} consists of six approximately square planar Pd(II)S 4 centers, which are interconnected through twelve μ 2 -bridging benzyl thiolate groups. The Pd...Pd contacts range from 3.0892 (2) to 3.1609 (2) Å and can be considered as weakly bonding. The unit cell of Pd6 contains also a co-crystallized anthracene-9,10-dione molecule