Anhydrous lead(II) heptanoate.

The title compound, catena-poly[[(heptanoato-O,O')lead(II)]-micro-heptanoato-O,O':O:O'], [Pb(C(7)H(13)O(2))(2)], is a metallic soap which can be used as a corrosion inhibitor since it forms a passive film at the Pb surface. Its structure is characterized by two-dimensional layers parallel to the bc plane. The layers are packed through van der Waals interactions along the a direction and form blocks parallel to (001). The 6s(2) lone pair of electrons on Pb(II) is stereochemically active in this compound, which leads to a hemidirected octahedral geometry for the O-environment around the Pb atoms.