Silver coordination chemistry of a new versatile "Janus"-type N(2),O(2)-bichelating donor, formation of an unprecedented supramolecular network of binuclear silver building blocks containing a five-coordinate beta-diketonate, and isolation of unexpected silver-tin-silver heterotrimetallic complexes from silver metathesis reactions.

Synthetic, spectroscopic, and single-crystal X-ray studies are reported for several complexes of silver(I) with the N(2),O(2)-bichelating Q(py) ligand (HQ(py) = 1-(2-pyridyl)-3-methyl-4-trifluoroacetylpyrazol-5-one). Direct interaction between HQ(py) and AgNO(3) in methanol, in the presence of NaOCH(3), affords derivative Ag(Q(py)), showing a polynuclear structure composed of dinuclear building blocks with two different Ag environments and two Q(py) donors differently connected. By adding neutral ligands such as PR(3) (R = Ph, Cy, C(6)H(4)-o-CH(3), C(6)H(4)-p-F, Bu(i)) to Ag(Q(py)), dinuclear Ag(Q(py))(PR(3)) derivatives have been isolated, containing bridging N(2),O-exotridentate Q(py) donors spanning a pair of AgPR(3) moieties. Reaction of Ag(Q(py))(PPh(3)) with excess PPh(3) produces the mononuclear Ag(Q(py))(PPh(3))(2) containing N(2)-chelate Q(py). Ag(Q(py)) interacts with 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane (dppe) yielding the derivative Ag(Q(py))(dppe), having a polynuclear structure in the solid state which is seemingly disrupted in solution, with the formation of two new species, a mononuclear neutral compound and a dinuclear ionic one. By the interaction of Ag(Q(py)) with nitrogen donors L (L = imidazole (imH), 1-methylimidazole (Meim), 1-methyl-2-mercaptoimidazole (Hmimt), 1,10-phenanthroline (phen)), mononuclear species Ag(Q(py))(L) have been obtained, where Q(py) is coordinated to silver in N(2)-chelating mode. Ag(Q(py))(PPh(3))(2) reacts with SnRCl(3) (R = Ph, Bu(n)) affording heterotrimetallic [(Ph(3)P)(2)AgClSnRCl(3)] derivatives.