Copper(I) Halide Complexes with 1,3-Propanebis(diphenylphosphine) and Heterocyclic Thione Ligands:  Crystal and Electronic Structures (DFT) of CuCl(pymtH)(dppp), CuBr(pymtH)(dppp), and Cu(μ-I)(dppp)2

Reaction of copper(I) chloride or bromide with equimolar amounts of the diphos ligand 1,3-propanebis(diphenylphosphine) and a heterocyclic thione (L) in acetonitrile/methanol solvent afforded mononuclear complexes of the type CuX(dppp)(L) with the diphosphine ligand acting as a chelating ligand. In contrast, copper(I) iodide under the same conditions gave the dimeric complex Cu(mu-I)(dppp)(2), which contains doubly bridging iodo ligands. The structures of three complexes, namely, CuCl(pymtH)(dppp), CuCl(pymtH)(dppp), and Cu(mu-I)(dppp)(2), have been established by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Density functional calculations at the B3LYP level of theory provided a satisfactory description of the structural, bonding, electronic, and related properties of the CuX(PH(3))(2) and CuX(1,3-pdp) (1,3-pdp = 1,3-propane-di-phosphine) complexes and their dimers along with their associations with the pyrimidine-2-thione (pymtH) ligand. The interaction of the pymtH ligand with the Cu(I) metal center in these complexes corresponds to loose associations, the computed interaction energies predicted to be about 20 kcal/mol for all complexes in the series. The bonding mechanism of the thione ligand with the Cu(I) metal centers involves both a sigma-dative and pi-back-bonding components. The coordination of the pymtH ligand is further stabilized by X...H-N bond formation being more pronounced in the chloro than in the iodo derivatives. The Cu-X bond was also found to be a composite bond involving sigma- and pi-dative bonding components. Most important is the presence of pi-type MOs delocalized over the entire four-membered Cu(mu-X)(2)Cu ring, which supports a ring current and could probably account for the nearly equivalent Cu-X bonds in the rhombus. Moreover, all Cu(mu-X)(PH(3))(2)(2) dimers exhibit a sigma-type MO corresponding to weak Cu.Cu interactions supporting through-ring intermetallic interactions, which seems to be responsible for the stabilization of the otherwise unstable antiaromatic Cu(mu-X)(2)Cu ring.