Group 12 metal aryl selenolates. Crystal and molecular structure of [2-(Et2NCH2)C6H4]2Se2 and [2-(Me2NCH2)C6H4Se]2M (M = Zn, Cd)

Diorganodiselenide [2-(Et2NCH2)C6H4]2Se2 (1) was obtained by hydrolysis/oxidation of the corresponding [2-(Et2NCH2)C6H4]SeLi derivative. The treatment of [2-(Et2NCH2)C6H4]2Se2 with elemental sodium in THF resulted in [2-(Et2NCH2)C6H4]SeNa (2). Reactions between alkali metal selenolates [2-(R2NCH2)C6H4]SeM′ (R = Me, Et; M′ = Li, Na) and MCl2 (M = Zn, Cd) in a 2:1 molar ratio resulted in the [2-(R2NCH2)C6H4Se]2M species [R = Me, M = Zn (3), Cd (4); R = Et, M = Zn (5), Cd (6)]. The new compounds were characterized by multinuclear NMR (1H, 13C, 77Se, 113Cd) and mass spectrometry. The crystal and molecular structures of 1, 3 and 4 revealed monomeric species stabilized by N → Se (for 1) and N → M (for 3 and 4) intramolecular interactions.