The methylgallium-2-carboxylatobenzimidazolato hexamer, [MeGa·C8H4N2O2]6·C6H6·(Me2C6H4)2; synthesis and X-ray crystal structure

The room-temperature reaction of Me3Ga with benzimidazole 2-carboxylic acid in xylene solvent has yielded a novel crystalline hexameric gallium compound with "MeGa" moieties bridged by the doubly depronotated ligand precursor. Crystals of [MeGa(4,5-benzimidazolato-2-carboxylato)]6·(C6H6)·(m-Me2C6H4)2 are monoclinic, a = 18.091(2), b = 17.094(2), c = 13.2215(5) A, Z = 2, space group C2/m. The structure was solved by direct methods and refined by full-matrix least-squares procedures to R (F, I 3σ(I)) = 0.064 (Rw (F2, all data) = 0.134). The hexameric Ga complex contains a six-membered ring of Ga atoms, bridged by the benzimidazolate ligands with the benzo rings projecting alternately above and below the Ga plane, thus forming a ball-shaped molecule. The complex could have ideal D3d symmetry, but it contains an encapsulated molecule of benzene, which distorts the regularity of the Ga6 hexagon, and reduces the symmetry of the complex to the crystallographically observed C2h. The coordination geometry at each ...