LAUSR

Abstract Benzotriazole (Hbta) complexes with Hg(II) and Pd(II) of the types: [Hg(bta)2] (1), [Hg(bta)2(diphos)]; diphos = dppe (2), dppp (3) or dppb (4), [Hg(bta)2(PPh3)2] (5), [Pd(Hbta)2Cl2] (6), [Pd(bta)Cl]2 (7) and [PdCl(bta)(PPh3)]2.DMSO (8) were prepared and characterized by elemental analyses, conductivity measurements, infrared, 1H- and 31P-{1H} NMR spectra. [Pd(PPh3)(μ-bta)Cl]2. DMSO (8) was structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Structural information exposed that benzotriazole acts as a bidentate bridging ligand bonded through the deprotonated nitrogen and the neutral nitrogen atoms. The hydrogen storage ability of complexes (1–4) was studied after detecting their BET surface area. The results show that complex (1) is able to store 3.35 wt% physically at 77 K under 120 bar.