Influencing the outcome: diorganotin(IV) ladder to macrocycle conversion through solvent selection

The self-assembly of tetrabutyldistannoxane ladder {[ n Bu 2 Sn(LH)] 2 O} 2 1 upon crystallization in xylene affords the novel cyclic dimer [ n Bu(L x H)Sn] 2 2, featuring a 22-membered macrocycle. The dimer also contains a 2-fold linkage of neighbouring units via intermolecular Sn-O contacts, giving rise to polymeric 1D chains in which the tin atoms assume pentagonal bipyramidal environments by means of additional Sn-O catecholate contacts.