Monodentate and bridging behaviour of the sulfur-containing ligand 4′-[4-(methyl­sulfan­yl)phen­yl]-4,2′:6′,4′′-terpyridine in two discrete zinc(II) complexes with acetyl­acetonate

The Zn complexes bis­(acetyl­acetonato-κ²O,O′)bis­{4′-[4-(methyl­sulfan­yl)phen­yl]-4,2′:6′,4′′-terpyridine-κN¹}zinc(II), [Zn(C₅H₇O₂)₂(C₂₂H₁₇N₃S)₂], (I), and {μ-4′-[4-(methyl­sulfan­yl)phen­yl]-4,2′:6′,4′′-terpyridine-κ²N¹:N^1′′}bis­[bis­(acetyl­acetonato-κ²O,O′)zinc(II)], [Zn₂(C₅H₇O₂)₄(C₂₂H₁₇N₃S)], (II), are discrete entities with different nuclearities. Compound (I) consists of two centrosymmetrically related monodentate 4′-[4-(methyl­sul­fan­­yl)phen­yl]-4,2′:6′,4′′-terpyridine (L1) ligands binding to one Zn^II atom sitting on an inversion centre and two centro­symmetrically related chelating acetyl­acetonate (acac) groups which bind via carbonyl O-atom donors, giving an N₂O₄ octa­hedral environment for Zn^II. Compound (II), however, consists of a bis-monodentate L1 ligand bridging two Zn^II atoms from two different Zn(acac)₂ fragments. Intra- and inter­molecular inter­actions are weak, mainly of the C—H...π and π–π types, mediating similar layered structures. In contrast to related structures in the literature, sulfur-mediated nonbonding inter­actions in (II) do not seem to have any significant influence on the supra­molecular structure.