AcSac, SacSac, and SacNac, the Forgotten Sulfur‐Based Ligands and their Reactivity in the Formation of Main and Transition Metal Complexes

Abstract AcAc (β‐acetylacetonate) are among the first ligands ever to be studied. They form stable complexes with most metals. During the 1960s, their sulfur derivatives were introduced, including AcSac (β‐thioketonate), SacSac (β‐dithioketonate) and SacNac (β‐thioketoiminate). These derivatives exhibit contrasting reactivity, stereochemical, magnetic and spectral properties to their formed complexes. Sulfur ligand‐based complexes were at their pinnacle in the early 1970s, but their fell into disuse, due to the lack of methodologies for obtaining them and the absence of synthetic tools for their structural modification. As an effort to promote the study and application of these sulfur‐ligands; this review will address their history, the properties they bring to the metal centers and their potential applications.