Exploring the coordination chemistry of some organometallic mercury derivatives of 4-ethynylpyridine

Two new heterotrinuclear organorhenium(i) mercury(ii) derivatives of 4-ethynylpyridine [Re(CO)3Cl(NC5H4C?CHgMe)2] 1 and [Re(CO)3Cl(NC5H4C?CHgC? CC5H4N)2] 2 were prepared in good yields by the reaction of Re(CO)5Cl with a methylmercury(ii) derivative of 4-ethynylpyridine 1a and its inorganic mercury(ii) derivative, bis(4-pyridylethynyl)mercury 2a, respectively. The structures of these mixed-metal complexes were established by spectroscopic (FT-IR, NMR, and FABMS) techniques and their photophysical properties were examined in both fluid and solid phases.