Chromophore containing bipyridyl ligands: part 1, supramolecular solid-state structure of Ag(I) complexes

The solid-state structures of a series of azine or azo chromophore containing bipyridyl ligand complexes of Ag(I) salts have been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The supramolecular structures are dominated by one-dimensional chains formed through pyridyl-Ag-pyridyl bonding, but the packing of these chains through non-covalent intermolecular interactions is unpredictable. Ag anion interactions are shown to be important, especially for nitrate and perchlorate species, but these may be supported or replaced by Ag Ag, Ag solvent, Ag azine or Ag p contacts. The molecular structures of the ligands show little alteration on complex formation, except for the AgNO3 complex of N,N0-bis-pyridin-4-ylmethylenehydrazine where the normally planar azine ligand adopts a twisted geometry.