Bis(2-pyridylmethanol)bis(saccharinato)zinc(II) and -cadmium(II) at 120 K: three-dimensional structures containing both N-and O-coordinated ambidentate saccharinate ligands.

The title complexes [M(sac)(2)(mpy)(2)] [sac is saccharinate (C(7)H(4)NO(3)S) and mpy is 2-pyridylmethanol (C(6)H(7)NO)], with M = Zn(II) and Cd(II), are isostructural and consist of neutral molecules. The Zn(II) or Cd(II) cations are octahedrally coordinated by the two neutral mpy and two anionic sac ligands. The mpy ligand acts as a bidentate donor through the amine N and hydroxyl O atoms. The sac ligands exhibit an ambidentate coordination behaviour; one is N-coordinated and the other is O-coordinated within the same coordination octahedron. The crystal packing is determined by C-H...O-type hydrogen bonding, as well as by weak py-py and sac-sac aromatic pi-pi-stacking interactions.