The Mercury(II) Trifluoroacetate-Bipyridyl System

Three complexes of mercury(II) trifluoroacetate and 2,2'-bipyridyl, of different stoichiometry, have been investigated and their structures compared with the previously published structure of bis[(2,2'-bipyridylN,N')bis(trifluoroacetatoO)mercury(II)], [Hg(C₂F₃O₂)₂(C₁₀H₈N₂)]₂ (BHG). The complete series, AHG {(2,2'-bipyridylN,N')(trifluoroacetatoO)mercury(II) hemi[tetrakis(trifluoroacetatoO)mercury(II)], [Hg(C₂F₃O₂)(C₁₀H₈N₂)][Hg(C₂F₃O₂)₄]_0.5}, BHG, GHG {bis(2,2'-bipyridylN,N')(trifluoroacetatoO)mercury(II) (2,2'-bipyridylN,N')tris(trifluoroacetatoO)mercury(II), [Hg(C₂F₃O₂)(C₁₀H₈N₂)₂][Hg(C₂F₃O₂)₃(C₁₀H₈N₂)]}, and DHG {bis(2,2'-bipyridylN,N')mercury(II) bis(trifluoroacetate), [Hg(C₁₀H₈N₂)₂](C₂F₃O₂)₂}, shows the progressive replacement of trifluoroacetate by the bidentate 2,2'-bipyridyl. Within the series, mercury may be coordinated to zero, one or two bidentate bipyridyl groups. In the extreme case, i.e. DHG, the complex ion [Hg(bipyridyl)₂]²⁺ is formed with exclusion of trifluoroacetate from the mercury coordination.

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