Crystal structures of 9-[bis-(benzyl-sulfan-yl)meth-yl]anthracene and of cyclo-dodeca-kis-(μ2-phenyl-methane-thiol-ato-κ2S:S)hexa-palladium(6 Pd-Pd)-anthracene-9,10-dione (1/1).

The first title compound, C29H24S2, L1, represents an example of an anthracene-based functionalized di­thio­ether, which may be useful as a potential chelating or terminal ligand for coordination chemistry. This di­thio­acetal L1 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/c. The phenyl rings of the benzyl groups and that of the anthracene unit form dihedral angles of 49.21 (4) and 58.79 (5)° and the crystal structure displays short C–H⋯π contacts. Surprisingly, when attempting to coordinate L1 to [PdCl2(PhCN)2], instead of the targeted chelate complex [PdCl2(κ2-L1)], a cleavage reaction leads to the formation of the centrosymmetric hexa­nuclear cyclic cluster of composition [Pd6(μ2-SCH2Ph)12] Pd6, or [Pd6(C7H7S)12]·C14H8O2. This tiara-shaped hexa­mer crystallizing in the triclinic space group P\overline{1} consists of six approximately square planar Pd(II)S4 centers, which are inter­connected through twelve μ2-bridging benzyl thiol­ate groups. The Pd⋯Pd contacts range from 3.0892 (2) to 3.1609 (2) A and can be considered as weakly bonding. The unit cell of Pd6 contains also a co-crystallized anthracene-9,10-dione mol­ecule.