Structural motifs in heteroleptic copper and cadmium selenites

Cu(II) cations in the presence of diamine ligands such as tetramethylethylendiamine (TMEDA) react with Na2SeO3 to produce the heteroleptic selenite copper compound of formula [Cu3(TMEDA)3(SeO3)2(H2O)4](NO3)2. In the cationic moiety two copper atoms are linked by two selenite anions through the O-Se-O bridge. One of the two bridging selenite anion coordinates to a third copper atom through the third oxygen atom. Reaction of Cd(CH3COO)2·2H2O with Na2SeO3 in the presence of ligand with softer character such as thiourea [(NH2)2CS; tu] or selenourea [(NH2)2CSe; tu] in aqueous solution afforded the complex [(Cd(tu)2SeO3)2], whose structure has been elucidated by X-ray diffraction analysis. It is the first reported example of a molecular cadmium selenite complex. Two cadmium cations stabilized by the coordination of four ancillary thiourea soft ligands, are linked together by two bridging selenite ions through O and O-Se-O bridges. A comparison between the coordination mode of the selenite ion in those cadmium and copper complexes and in inorganic extended CdSeO3 and hydrated CuSeO3 phases is also reported.