In the solid state, the title compound, [Sn2(C~2H6N204)-(CH3)6], forms a two-dimensional polymer, which is developed parallel to the crystallographic 21 screw axis [Sn2(C! 2H6N204)(CH3)6] of the P21/n space group. The Sn atom shows normal trans pentagonal-bipyramidal coordination geometry and forms two bonds of different length, 2.145 (2) and 2.519(2),~,, with the two trans 0 atoms. The carboxylate group bonds two organometallic moieties in a bridging bidentate fashion with a syn--anti configuration.
Comment2,2'-Bipyridine has been used extensively as a ligand in both analytical and synthetic coordination chemistry (Reedijk, 1987) and has been incorporated in macrocycles. Polypyridine ligands display a variety of interesting complexation properties and have been used extensively in the synthesis of photosensitive and electroactive metal ion (particularly ruthenium) complexes (Juris, Balzani, Barigelletti, Campagna, Belser & Von Zelewsky, 1988). Monomeric complexes of the general formula cis-di(X)bis (2,2'-bipyridyl-4,4'-dicarboxylato)ruthenium(II) (where X is chloro, bromo, iodo, cyanato, thiocyanato) have been reported which have been shown to act as efficient charge-transfer sensitizers for nanocrystalline TiO2 films (Nazeeruddin, Kay, Rodicio, Humphry-Baker, Muller, Liska, Vlachopoulos & Gratzel, 1993). A pendant polymer complex of ruthenium(II) attached to a vinyl-2, 2'-bipyridyl network has been described and its luminescence and redox properties investigated (Sun & De Armond, 1994). The title compound, in which trimethyltin(IV) moieties interconnect 2,2'-bipyridyl-4,4'-dicarboxylate units in a twodimensional polymer, (1), offers a promising substrate for the synthesis of metal complex polymers possessing catalytic, redox and photoredox properties.A drawing of the monomeric unit with the atomic numbering scheme is shown in Fig. 1, while Fig. 2 shows the polymer layer constituting the threedimensional crystal packing of the solid. The central pentacoordinated Sn TM atom has distorted trigonal bipyramidal geometry, with the three methyl groups in the equatorial plane; the Sn atom is displaced by 0. Table 2). Atoms are represented by displacement ellipsoids at the 40N probability level. The H-atom size is arbitrary. The coordination environment about the Sn atom is of the trans-O2SnC3 type, with a structural motif which is common for polymeric tin(IV) carboxylates (Tiekink, 1991). The trans Sn---O bond distances are different: 2.145(2) and 2.519 (2) ,~, for Sn--O (1) and Sn--O ii, respectively [symmetry code as in Table 2]. Corresponding asymmetry is observed in the C--GIANCARLO STOCCO et al.
831O bonds of the carboxylate groups, the shorter one [1.230 (4)A,] being trans to the longer Sn--O ii bond, while the longer bond [C--O(1) 1.281 (4) ~,] is opposite the shorter Sn--O bond. This suggests that partial double-bond character is preserved in the C--O bond coordinatively bonded to tin (longer Sn----O distance), while the O atom formally singly bonded to the C atom of the RCOO group seems to be cova...