Syntheses and single-crystal X-ray structure determinations are report
ed for a number of adducts of bismuth(III) nitrate with the aromatic b
identate base systems 2,2'-bipyridine (bpy) or 1,10-phenanthroline (ph
en). With bpy, a mononuclear 1:2 adduct is formed, [(bpy)(2)Bi(O2NO)(3
)], isomorphous with its rare earth counterparts, orthorhombic, Pbcn,
a 16.7634(8), b 8.9970(4), c 15.0099(7) Angstrom, Z = 4, conventional
R on \F\ 0.029 for N-o 2502 independent 'observed' reflections. The Bi
centre is 10-coordinate with two bidentate N-base ligands and three b
identate nitrate ligands. With phen the 10-coordinate 1:2 adduct [(phe
n)(2)Bi(O2NO)(3)] was readily obtained, while the 1:1 adduct proved el
usive and a hydroxide-bridged dimer [(phen)(ONO2)(2)Bi(mu-OH)(2)Bi(O2N
O)(2)(phen)] with eight-coordinate Bi centres was the sole product fro
m all crystallization attempts. [(phen)(2)Bi(O2NO3)(3)] is monoclinic,
C2/c, a 11.258(5), b 17.847(4), c 13.044(5) Angstrom, beta 100.78(4)d
egrees, Z = 4, R 0.063 for N-o 1958, again isomorphous with its rare e
arth counterparts; [(phen)(ONO2)(2)Bi(mu-OH)(2)Bi(O2NO)(2)(phen)] is t
riclinic, <P(1)over bar>, a 8.3251(6), b 8.6315(6), c 10.7650(8) Angst
rom, alpha 111.120(1), beta 93.486(1), gamma 102.364(1)degrees, Z = 1,
dimer, R 0.024 for N-o 2965. In all syntheses, dimethyl sulfoxide (dm
so) was used as the supporting solvent; the structure determination of
the dmso adduct [(dmso-O)(3)Bi(O2NO)(3)] is also recorded where the B
i centre is nine-coordinate with three bidentate nitrate ligands and t
hree O-bound dmso ligands: monoclinic P2(1)/n, a 11.4136(6), b 12.6682
(7), c 13.4959(7) Angstrom, beta 100.209(1)degrees, Z = 4, R 0.026 for
N-o 4214.