Interconversion between square-planar palladium(ii) and octahedral palladium(iv) centres in a sulfur-bridged trinuclear structure.

Treatment of fac-[Rh(apt)] (apt = 3-aminopropanethiolate) with Pd gives an S-bridged trinuclear complex, [Pd{Rh(apt)}] ([1]), which is interconvertible with [Pd{Rh(apt)}] ([2]). This interconversion is accompanied by a drastic change between the Pd centre with an S octahedral geometry in [1] and the Pd centre with an S square-planar geometry in [2].