Halogen-Bonding-Mediated Radical Reactions: The Unexpected Behavior of Piperazine-Based Dithiooxamide Ligands in the Presence of Diiodine

N,N'-Dialkylpiperazine-2,3-dithiones (R2pipdt) were recognized as a class of hexa-atomic cyclic dithiooxamide ligands with peculiar charge-transfer donor properties toward soft electron-acceptors such as noble metal cations and diiodine. The latter interaction is nowadays better described as halogen bonding. In the reaction with diiodine, R2pipdt unexpectedly provides the corresponding triiodide salts, differently from the other dithiooxamides, which instead typically achieve ligand·nI2 halogen-bonded adducts. In this paper, we report a combined experimental and theoretical study that allows elucidation of the nature of the cited products and the reasons behind the unpredictable behavior of these ligands. Specifically, low-temperature single-crystal X-ray diffraction measurements on a series of synthetically obtained R2pipdt (R = Me, iPr, Bz)/I3 salts, complemented by neutron diffraction experiments, were able to experimentally highlight the formation of [R2pipdtH]+ cations with a -S-H bond on the dithionic moiety. Differently, with R = Ph, a benzothiazolylium cation, resulting from an intramolecular condensation reaction of the ligand, is obtained. Based on density functional theory (DFT) calculations, a reasonable reaction mechanism where diiodine plays the fundamental role of promoting a halogen-bonding-mediated radical reaction has been proposed. In addition, the comparison of combined experimental and computational results with the corresponding reactions of N,N'-dialkylperhydrodiazepine-2,3-dithione (R2dazdt, a hepta-atomic cyclic dithiooxamide), which provide neutral halogen-bonded adducts, pointed out that the difference in the torsion angle of the free ligands represents the structural key factor in determining the different reactivities of the two systems.