A DATABASE STUDY OF THE BONDING AND CONFORMATION OF BIS-SULFONYLAMIDE-IMIDE MOIETIES/

The bonding and conformational characteristics of bis-sulfonylamides a nd analogous imides are compared. Structures (44 altogether) containin g R-SO2-NQ-SO2-R' units were retrieved from the Cambridge Structural D atabase. They are either neutral (Q = H, alkyl or aryl groups, hereto atoms such as O and S) or charged (Q = e(-)) and bearing the functions R, R' = Me, Et or Ph, respectively. The principal conformations of th e -SO2-NQ-SO2- bridge (open versus folded) are represented by sodium d ibenzenesulfonamide (BSULFA) and dibenzenesulfonimide (NABSUF). In add ition to the compounds possessing Q = alkyl or aryl functions, complex es with N-metal bonds could clearly be distinguished. The dominant for ms of S-VI-X (X = O, N C) bonds are characterized and correlated with the bond angles formed around the S atoms. The marked difference betwe en the archetypes of the S-N bonds (i.e. nitrogen charged or neutral) indicated that the interdependence of the S-X bonds, i.e. the size and the shape of the S-VI[O,O',N,C] tetrahedra, are principally governed by the environment of the N atoms. The conformation symmetry and dissy mmetry of the charged and neutral -SO2-NQ-SO2- moieties are described in terms of the internal rotations about the bonds in the R-S-N-S-R' f ragment.