A HEXACOBALT SULFIDE CLUSTER COMPOUND, DOT-2PPH(3)CENTER-DOT-2C(2)H(4)CL(2)CENTER-DOT-H2O

The title compound, octa-mu(3)-thio-hexakis(triphenylphosphine)- cobal t-triphenylphosphine-1,2-dichloroethane-water (1/2/2/1), 6S8(C18H15P)( 6)].-2C(18)H(15)P.2C(2)H(4)Cl(2).H2O, was prepared by the reaction of CoCl(PPh(3))(3) with Na(mpo) (mpo = 2-mercaptopyridine N-oxide) or NaS (t)Bu. The molecular structure consists of discrete cluster units inte rspersed with molecules of free triphenylphosphine and solvent. The ne utral cluster contains a slightly distorted Co-6 octahedron with each triangular face symmetrically capped by a mu(3)-S ligand. The molecula r structure possesses a crystallographic inversion centre. The average Co-Co, Co-S and Co-P bond distances are 2.87 (6), 2.24 (1) and 2.162 (7) Angstrom, respectively. The hexacobalt sulfide cluster compound wa s formed via the capture of S atoms from thiolate reactants.