Nickel(II) complexes of di- and tri-substituted thiourea mono- and di-anions

Reaction of nickel(II) acetate, 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane (dppe), and a di- or tri-substituted thiourea R1NHC(S)R2R3 (R3 = H or alkyl) with trimethylamine in hot methanol gave cationic nickel(II) complexes containing N,S-chelated thiourea monoanion ligands [Ni{SC(NR2R3)NR1}(dppe)]+, which can be readily isolated as their BPh4− salts. The X-ray crystal structure of [Ni{SC(NMe2)NPh}(dppe)]+BPh4− is reported.