The unexpected isolation of bismuth tris(carboxylate) hydrates: Syntheses and structures of [Bi(Hsal)₃(H₂O)] and [Bi(hanth)₃(H₂O)] (H₂sal = 2-OH-C₆H₄CO₂H, Hanth = 2-NH₂-C₆H₄CO₂H)

A complex of the composition [Bi(2-OH-C₆H₄CO₂)₃(H₂O)] (1) was isolated from the 1:3 reaction of BiPh₃ with H₂sal (H₂sal = salicylic acid = 2-OH-C₆H₄CO₂H) in wet xylene, and the analogous anthranilate compound [Bi(2-NH₂-C₆H₄CO₂)₃(H₂O)] (2) was obtained from the 1:3 reaction of Bi(OtBu)₃ with Hanth (Hanth = anthranilic acid = 2-NH₂-C₆H₄CO₂H) in tetrahydrofuran. Compounds 1 and 2 were fully characterized spectroscopically and by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Compounds 1 and 2 crystallize in the triclinic space group and display the η²-(O,O′) binding mode for the oxygen atoms of the carboxylate ligands. There are two independent molecules in the asymmetric units of 1 and 2 that are connected by a weak bridging interaction of the OH or NH₂ group to an adjacent molecule. Both bismuth atoms are bound to a H₂O molecule, but the distances are highly asymmetric, long Bi⋯O lengths ranging from 2.74 to 2.89 Å.