Synthesis and crystal structure of (1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-κ4N)(tetrasulfido-κ2S1,S4)manganese(II)

The title compound, [Mn(S4)(C8H20N4)], was accidentally obtained by the hydrothermal reaction of Mn(ClO4)2·6H2O, cyclen (cyclen = 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane) and Na3SbS4·9H2O in water at 413 K, indicating that polysulfide anions might represent intermediates in the synthesis of thiometallate compounds using Na3SbS4·9H2O as a reactant. X-ray powder diffraction proves that the sample is slightly contaminated with NaSb(OH)6 and an unknown crystalline phase. The crystal investigated was twinned with a twofold rotation axis as the twin element, and therefore a twin refinement using data in HKLF-5 format was performed. The asymmetric unit of the title compound consists of one MnII cation, one [S4]2− anion and one cyclen ligand in general positions. The MnII cation is sixfold coordinated by two cis-S atoms of the [S4]2− anions, as well as four N atoms of the cyclen ligand within an irregular coordination. The complexes are linked via pairs of N—H...S hydrogen bonds into chains, which are further linked into layers by additional N—H...S hydrogen bonding. These layers are connected into a three-dimensional network by intermolecular N—H...S and C—H...S hydrogen bonding. It is noted that only one similar complex with MnII is reported in the literature.