Syntheses, structures, and nonlinear optical properties of heteroselenometallic W-Se-Ag cluster compounds containing phosphine ligands.

Treatment of [Et4N]2[WSe4] with a 1:1 mixture of AgNO3 and PCy3 (Cy = cyclohexyl) in the absence of iodide afforded a linear trinuclear compound [(mu-WSe4)(AgPCy3)2] (1). A similar reaction in the presence of iodide gave rise to the isolation of the cubanelike compound [(mu3-WSe4)Ag3(PCy3)3(mu3-I)] (2). Treatment of [Et4N]2[WSe4] with AgI in the presence of bidentate phosphine ligands bis(diphenylphosphino)amine (dppa) and bis(diphenylphosphino)methane (dppm) afforded the tetranuclear compounds [(mu3-WSe4)Ag3(mu-I)(mu-dppa)2] (3) and [(mu3-WSe4)Ag3(mu3-I)(mu-dppm)2] (4), respectively, which exhibit an open butterfly configuration.

Construction of new heteroselenometallic clusters: formation of crownlike [Et4N]4[(mu5-WSe4)(CuI)5(mu-I)2] and octahedral polymeric [(mu6-WSe4)Cu6I4(py)4]n from planar [Et4N]4[(mu4-WSe4)Cu4I6] with additional faces.

The coplanar cluster compound [Et4N]4[(mu4-WSe4)Cu4I6] (1) was prepared from reaction of [Et4N]2[WSe4] with 4 equiv of CuI in N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) solution in the presence of [Et(4)N]I. Treatment of 1 with pyridine (py) in dry MeCN gave the neutral cluster [(mu4-WSe4)Cu4(py)6I2] (2) in good yield. Recrystallization of 1 from py/i-PrOH resulted in the reorganization of the coplanar WSe4Cu4 core and the formation of a neutral polymeric cluster [(mu3-WOSe3)Cu3(py)3(mu-I)]n (3) containing a nest-shaped OWSe3Cu3 core and a terminal W=O bond.