Synthesis of α-mercury sulfide nanosheets from (1,10-phenanthroline)bis(1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolinecarbodithioato-S,S′)mercury(II)

(1,10-phenanthroline)bis(1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolinecarbodithioato-S,S′)mercury(II); [Hg(thqdtc)2(1,10-phen)] (1); has been synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, IR and NMR spectroscopy and single crystal X-ray analysis. IR spectrum of the complex reveals the contribution of thioureide form to the structure. In the 13C NMR spectrum, [Hg(thqdtc)2(1,10-phen)] shows a single low-field resonance associated with backbone carbon of dithiocarbamate (N13CS2) at 205.7 ppm. The mononuclear structure of [Hg(thqdtc)2(1,10-phen)] exhibits monodentate and bidentate coordination by dithiocarbamate ligands and an intermediate geometry between tetragonal pyramidal and trigonal bipyramidal for mercury, defined by an N2S3 donor set. [Hg(thqdtc)2(1,10-phen)] has been found to be an effective single-source precursor for the preparation of α-HgS nanosheets via solvothermal method. The as-prepared HgS nanosheets have been characterized by powder XRD, TEM, UV–Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. TEM image of HgS exhibits that the as-prepared HgS particles are hexagonal shaped nanosheets. UV–Vis spectroscopy established pronounced quantum confinement effect.