Highly polyhapto–aromatic interactions in thallium(I) coordination

Abstract

In the solid state, the Tl(I) complex of 4-hydroxybenzoate (HB −), [Tl(HB)] n ( 1), can be regarded as containing polymeric chains linked through 2 × η 6 interactions of the Tl atoms with phenyl groups from adjacent units. The thallium atoms contain close Tl I ⋯ π (aromatic) contacts, thus attaining a total hapticity of 16 with environments TlO 4C 12. The unusually high coordination number in the this compound may reflect the capacity of Tl(I) to act as both a Lewis acid and a Lewis base.