A study of the nature of coordination in metal monothiocarbamates based on infrared spectroscopy and the HSAB concept

Abstract

The nature of coordination in metal monothiocarbamates is shown to depend on the hardness or softness of the metal ton. Thus, the monothiocarbamate ion acts as a monodentate ligand with metal-sulphur bending when the metal ion is a soft acid while it acts as a bidentate ligand when the metal ion is a hard acid; it can exhibit either behaviour when the metal ion is a borderline acid. In dialkylt in and dialkylmonocholorot in complexes, the monothiocarbamate ion acts as a bidentate ligand with strong Sn-S bonding while in trialkyl-or triaryl-tin complexes it acts essentially as a monodentate ligand. Thus, R₃Sn(I) seems to be a soft or borderline acid while R₂Sn(II) is a hard acid.