Supramolecular self-assembly involving cooperative use of dative coordinate, secondary and hydrogen bonding in solid Me 3 Sn 3 l-OH 2 Br Ioana Pavel, Francisco Cervantes-Lee, Ionel Haiduc * ,1 , Keith H. Pannell 2 Chemistry Department, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968-0513, USA Received 8 March 2001; accepted 30 March 2001 Abstract Trinuclear Sn 3 l-OH 2 moietiesformedthroughcoordinatedativebondsareassociatedintochainsthroughsecondarySn Br interactions and further self-assembled in a three-dimensional network through O±H Br hydrogen bonds. Ó 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Supramolecular self-assembly of organometallic compounds can occur by interconnecting molecular or ionic species through dative coordinate bonds, second- ary bonds, hydrogen bonds, p-bonds or electrostatic interactions. Organotin chemistry is rich with various forms of self-assembly [1]. Triorganotin hydroxides with relatively small R groups form in®nite zig-zag chains, 1, in which the molecular R 3 SiOH tectons [2] are associ- ated via hydroxo bridges through dative coordinate bonds R 3 Et 3 [3], Ph 3 [4], PhCH 2 Me 2 [5]). The re- lated halides with small R groups, R 3 SnCl; R 3 Me 3 [6], PhCH 2 3 [7], c-C 6 H 11 3 [8]) also form in®nite chains, 2, by using intermolecular Sn Cl secondary bonds which connect the Me 3 SnCl tectons in a zig-zag fashion. The molecular parameters are presented in Table 1. Where bulkier substituent groups are involved both R 3 SnOH and R 3 SnCl compounds form mono- meric species containing no intermolecular associations [9±13]. In contrast to the chains noted for the tin chlo- rides the analogous bromides, Ph 3 SnBr [14], and c-C 6 H 11 3 SnBr, and the iodide c-C 6 H 11 3 SnI [12], have been described as molecular crystals. A two-dimen- sional, graphite-like supramolecular structure based upon Sn Cl secondary bonds has been reported for Me 3 Sn 3 O Cl Sn Cl 3:086 A, SnAO 2.099 A, O±Sn Cl 174.37°) [15]. We report the solid-state crystal structure of Me 3 Snl-OHSnMe 3 l-OHSnMe 3 Br , 3 which is self-organized into in®nite chains through Sn Br secondary interactions and a three-dimensional network formed through SnAOH Br hydrogen bond interac- tions. The trinuclear tecton itself is a supramolecular cation formed through dative coordinate O ! Sn bonds that connect the SnMe 3 units. The crystal structure of a related iodide, Me 3 Snl-OHSnMe 3 l-OHSnMe 3 I , has been published [16] and OH I hydrogen bonds were mentioned, but no discussion of the crystal orga- nization was provided. The structure also contains Sn I interactions [17]. Inorganic Chemistry Communications 4 2001) 530±533 www.elsevier.com/locate/inoche * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1-915-747-5701; fax: +1-915-747- 5748. E-mail addresses: ionelh@utep.edu, ihaiduc@chem.ubbcluj.ro I. Haiduc), kpannell@utep.edu K.H. Pannell), . 1 On leave of absence from ``Babes-Bolyai'' University, RO-3400 Cluj-Napoca, Romania. 2 Also corresponding author. 3 Preparation: The compound was obtained as a by-product in a reaction between ortho-MeSCH 2 C 6 H 4 Br, n-BuLi with Me 3 SnCl, obviously due to adventitious water. The compound can be prepared in quantity by reacting Me 3 SnOH with Me 3 SnBr 2:1 molar ratio) and its IR spectrum has been analyzed in detail [H. Kriegsmann, H. Homan, Z. Anorg. Allg. Chem. 321 1963) 244 and references therein]. 1387-7003/01/$ - see front matter Ó 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. PII:S1387-700301)00247-7