Structural studies on 1:1 and 2:1 adducts of silver(I) cyanide with alkanediamine ligands

The crystal structures of two 1:1 ligand-silver(I) cyanide complexes, [Ag(CN)(en)] (en = ethane-1,2-diamine) (1) and [Ag(CN)(pn)] (pn = propane-1,2-diamine) (2), and of two 2:1 ligand-silver(I) cyanide compounds, [(AgCN)2 · tn] (tn = propane-1,3-diamine) (3) and [(AgCN)2 · bn] (bn = butane-1,4-diamine) (4), were determined from single-crystal X-ray diffraction data, collected at 173 K. In 1 and 2, mononuclear AgCN complexes are formed, in which silver(I) is coordinated by one cyanide and one chelating alkanediamine donor ligand. However, in the dinuclear adducts of 3 and 4, two AgCN units are connected by one alkane-1,n-diamine bridging ligand (n = 3, 4). The resulting molecules of 1–4 are cross-linked via N–H⋯N hydrogen bonds. Apart from these intermolecular contacts, comparatively short Ag(I)–Ag(I) distances of 3.182(1) Å (in 1), 3.267(1) Å (in 2), 3.023(2) Å (in 3) and 3.050(2) Å (in 4) occur.