“…What makes the chain compounds in which atoms of Group 15 are bonded to the nitrogen atoms of the sulfur diimide fragment particularly interesting is the fact that they can easily form transition metal complexes and a considerable number of mononuclear (chelate) and binuclear derivatives of R2X-N=S=N-XR2 (X = P, As, Sb and R = Me, t Bu, Ph) have been reported [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]; four of these have been structurally characterized using XRD [13][14][15][16][17]. The most studied compound in this group has been 1,1,5,5-tetra-tert-butyl-3-thia-2,4-diaza-1,5-diphospha-2,3-pentadiene [ t Bu2P-N=S=N-P t Bu2 (1), Figure 2] [23] of which the configuration in solution was investigated using NMR spectroscopy [24,25]: by comparing 15 N and 31 P chemical shifts of a set of reference compounds with the values found for 1, Herberhold et al derived that this compound primarily exists in a dynamic equilibrium of rapidly interconverting Z,E and E,Z isomers. If so, the configurational preference of 1 would be different from that of its Group-16 analogue Ph-S-N=S=N-S-Ph (2, Figure 2), of which the Z,Z isomer is the main (about 90%) component in solution [10].…”