Nickel and palladium complexes of 1-hydroxyethane-2-thiol and analogues. Part I. Crystal structure of cyclohexakis[bis-(µ-1-hydroxyethane-2-thiolato)-nickel(II)]

The triclinic crystals separating from a weakly alkaline solution containing nickel(II) and 1-hydroxyethane-2-thiol have a= 11·18, b= 10·54, c= 13·66 Å, α= 125·8, β= 114·8, γ= 78·5°, space group P. The structure, determined from three-dimensional X-ray diffraction data, consists of cyclic molecules in which there is a planar ring of six nickel atoms bridged above and below by the sulphur atoms of twelve thiolate anions. The co-ordination around nickel is essentially square planar, with four sulphur atoms at 2·20 Å, while the shortest nickel–nickel distance is 2·91 Å. The hydroxy-groups are not co-ordinated to the nickel atoms, but are hydrogen bonded to one another in intermolecular chains.