A new twist to 3,6-bis(2-pyridyl)-1,2,4,5-tetrazine complexes of silver(i)

The dinuclear complex [Ag2(1)3]2+ has been isolated as the triflate salt from the reaction of silver(I) triflate with 3,6-bis(2-pyridyl)-1,2,4,5-tetrazine (1) in acetonitrile. The single crystal structure of [Ag2(1)3][CF3SO3]2·MeCN reveals a trigonal prismatic coordination environment for each silver(I) centre. The isolation of [Ag2(1)3][CF3SO3]2·MeCN contrasts with our earlier observation that crystalline [Ag2(1)2][CF3SO3]2 can be isolated from a 1 : 1 reaction of AgCF3SO3. These data are discussed in the context of other published observations of similar systems, and the present results suggest that the reasons governing the assembly of a given structural architecture between Ag+ and 1 are more subtle than simply the choice of anion.