Reaction of the alkanediselenolate(Et
4N)
2(Se(CH
2)
3Se)with NiCl
2·6H
2O in ethanol/acetonitrilemixture affordsthe dimeric complex(Et
4N)
2[Ni
2(Se(CH
2)
3Se)
3](
1), in which the coordination geometry around eachNi(II) centeris square planar. In contrast, reaction of the areneselenolatePhSe
- with NiCl
2·6H
2O inacetonitrile gives rise to(Ph
4P)
2[Ni(SePh)
4](
2), which comprises a distorted tetrahedralNiSe
4 chromophore. When the bulkyareneselenolate2,4,6-(Me)
3C
6H
2Se
-is used, the same reaction affords the dimeric complex(Ph
4P)
2[Ni
2(
-2,4,6-(Me)
3C
6H
2Se)
2(2,4,6-(Me)
3C
6H
2Se)
4]·8CH
3CN(
3), which contains square planar NiSe
4chromoph
ores. Unfavorable stericinteractions among
o-methyl groups,
nickel, and the Se atomsdo not allow a tetrahedral coordination spherearound
nickel in
3. Complex
1 crystallizesin the orthorhombic space group
Pna2
1 with
a = 16.645(3) Å,
b =20.214(6) Å,
c = 11.428(3) Å,
V =3846(3) Å
3, and
Z = 4. Thestructure of
1 was refined to
R = 7.34% onthebasis of 1694 (
I > 4
(
I)) data.Complex
2 crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group
Pca2
1 with
a =17.617(7)Å,
b = 13.758(5) Å,
c =24.776(11) Å,
V = 6005(4) Å
3, and
Z = 4. The structure of
2 was refined to
R =6.45% on the basis of 4034 (
I > 4
(
I))data. Complex
3 crystallizes in the triclinic spacegroup
P with
a =14.443(3) Å,
b = 14.751(3) Å,
c =15.351(3) Å,
= 75.66(3)
,
= 71.09(3)
,
= 65.18(3)
,
V = 2784.4(10)Å
3, and
Z = 1. The structure of
3 was refined to
R = 7.34% on the basis of7236 (
I > 4
(
I)) data. TheseNi(II)selenolate complexes are sensitive to oxygen, and their formation ishindered by the presence of water in thereaction mixture. The average Ni-Se bond lengths in all thehomoleptic square planar selenolates are shorterthan the average Ni-Se bond length in the tetrahedral complex[Ni(SePh)
4]
2-.