Quaternary adamantine selenides and tellurides of the form I III IV VI4

The preparation of a range of polycrystalline Selenides and Tellurides of the form I III IV VI₄ was undertaken. Twelve Selenides with quaternary composition were prepared but the eight Tellurides attempted did not grow as quaternaries. Single crystal samples of CuGaSnSe₄ were grown by vapour transport. X-Ray powder photography confirmed that the quaternary Selenides have tetragonal Chalcopyrite structure with a c/a ratio of approximately 2. A systematic variation of unit cell volume and of c/a was found over the entire range of compounds grown.     

Solution behavior and structural diversity of bis(dialkylphosphino)methane complexes of palladium

The preparation of dipalladium complexes containing sterically nondemanding diphosphine (P-P) ligands of the type R(2)PCH(2)PR(2) where R = Me (dmpm) or Et (depm) is reported. Variable-temperature (1)H NMR spectra of the Pd(I)(2) complexes Pd(2)X(2)(dmpm)(2) (X = Cl, Br, or I; the P-P ligands in the Pd(2) complexes are always bridged, but for convenience, the micro -symbol is omitted) show the complexes to be fluxional in solution, the barriers to a ring-flipping process being DeltaG( double dagger ) = 37.9, 39.0, and 43.2 +/- 0.9 kJ mol(-)(1) for the chloro, bromo, and iodo complexes, respectively. Treatment of Pd(2)X(2)(P-P)(2) (X = Cl or Br) with X(2) generates the stable, face-to-face Pd(II)(2) derivatives trans-Pd(2)X(4)(P-P)(2), while oxidation of Pd(2)I(2)(P-P)(2) complexes with I(2) generates a new type of symmetrically di-iodo-bridged, five-coordinate complexes Pd(2)I(2)(micro -I)(2)(dmpm)(2) and Pd(2)I(2)(micro -I)(2)(depm)(2). The molecular crystal structures of four dipalladium(II) complexes are described: trans-Pd(2)Cl(4)(dmpm)(2).2CHCl(3), trans-Pd(2)Br(4)(dmpm)(2), trans-Pd(2)Cl(4)(depm)(2), and Pd(2)I(2)(micro -I)(2)(dmpm)(2). Solution NMR and UV-vis absorption spectra are consistent with the solid-state structures determined by X-ray diffraction. The stability of the dimeric Pd(II) complexes is attributed primarily to ligand steric factors.     

Intermolecular activation of hydrocarbon C-H bonds under ambient conditions by 16-electron neopentylidene and benzyne complexes of molybdenum

CpMo(NO)(CH(2)CMe(3))(2) (1), a complex with alpha-agostic C-H.Mo interactions, evolves neopentane in neat hydrocarbon solutions at room temperature and forms the transient 16-electron alkylidene complex, CpMo(NO)(=CHCMe(3)), which subsequently activates solvent C-H bonds. Thus, it reacts with tetramethylsilane or mesitylene to form CpMo(NO)(CH(2)CMe(3))(CH(2)SiMe(3)) (2) or CpMo(NO)(CH(2)CMe(3))(eta(2)-CH(2)C(6)H(3)-3,5-Me(2)) (3), respectively, in nearly quantitative yields. Under identical conditions, 1 in p-xylene generates a mixture of sp(2) and sp(3) C-H bond activation products, namely CpMo(NO)(CH(2)CMe(3))(C(6)H(3)-2,5-Me(2)) (4, 73%) and CpMo(NO)(CH(2)CMe(3))(eta(2)-CH(2)C(6)H(4)-4-Me) (5, 27%). In benzene at room temperature, 1 transforms to a mixture of CpMo(NO)(CH(2)CMe(3))(C(6)H(5)) (6) and CpMo(NO)(C(6)H(5))(2) (7) in a sequential manner. Most interestingly, the thermal activation of 6 at ambient temperatures gives rise to two parallel modes of reactivity involving either the elimination of benzene and formation of CpMo(NO)(=CHCMe(3)) or the elimination of neopentane and formation of the benzyne complex, CpMo(NO)(eta(2)-C(6)H(4)). In pyridine, these intermediates are trapped as the isolable 18-electron adducts, CpMo(NO)(=CHCMe(3))(NC(5)H(5)) (8) and CpMo(NO)(eta(2)-C(6)H(4))(NC(5)H(5)) (9), and, in hydrocarbon solvents, they effect the intermolecular activation of aliphatic C-H bonds at room temperature to generate mixtures of neopentyl- and phenyl-containing derivatives. However, the distribution of products resulting from the hydrocarbon activations is dependent on the nature of the solvent, probably due to solvation effects and the presence of sigma- or pi-hydrocarbon complexes on the reaction coordinates of the alkylidene and the benzyne intermediates. The results of DFT calculations on these processes in the gas phase support the existence of such hydrocarbon complexes and indicate that better agreement with experimental observations is obtained when the actual neopentyl ligand rather than the simpler methyl ligand is used in the model complexes.     

Growth of new spinel compounds CuInSnS4 and CuIn11S17

Two new spinel structure compounds CuInSnS₄ and CuIn₁₁S₁₇ are reported. The latter has the same composition formula as the superionic distorted defect spinel compound β-alumina. They were prepared by the reaction of alloys of the metals with sulphur vapour. The lattice parameters are 10.4938 ± 0.0002 and 10.73004 ± 0.0003 Å respectively. Single crystals of CuInSnS₄ were grown by temperature gradient annealing of powdered CuInSnS₄ at 680°C. Well faceted {111} habit crystals were produced and examined by electron probe microanalysis to confirm the composition. It is thought that these crystals grew by chemical diffusion and vapour growth in the vapour state controlled mode.     

The solid state controlled growth of sulphides and selenides of Ag and Cu using crystal rotation

An improved crystal growth method for ionic-electronic mixed conductors, such as the high temperature cubic modifications of Ag₂X and Cu₂X (where X = S or Se), is presented. Ag or Cu atoms are mobile in these compounds. If the respective sulphur or selenium vapour pressure was sufficiently high at the growth surface, the growth rate was limited by the solid state chemical diffusion of Ag or Cu atoms which was controlled by the rate of the injection of the metal atoms into the compounds. The crystals were grown in a silica ampoule, held in a vertical two zone furnace and rotated at 1 rpm about the vertical axis to achieve a uniform axial temperature distribution. Nearly cylindrical single crystals of size about 3–10 mm diameter, 10–35 mm long were grown by this method.     

The elastic behaviour of the ternary zincblende structure semiconductor CuGe2P3

A single crystal has been grown of CuGe₂P₃, a ternary semiconductor with a zincblende structure in which the copper and germanium atoms are randomly distributed on the cation sites. The second order elastic constants measured by the ultrasonic pulse echo overlap technique (C₁₁ = 13.66, C₁₂ = 6.17, C₄₄ = 6.66 and bulk modulus B = 8.67 in units of 10¹⁰Nm^?2 at 291 K) are closely similar to those of GaP and conform well to Keyes' correlation for zincblende structure crystals. The hydrostatic pressure derivatives of the second order elastic constants ($\text{?C}{}_{11}\text{?P}\text{= 4.40}$, $\text{?C}{}_{12}\text{?P}\text{= 3.9}$, $\text{?C}{}_{44}\text{?P}\text{= 0.93}$ and $\text{?B}\text{?P}\text{= 4.07}$) and the third order elastic constants (C₁₁₁ = ? 8.45, C₁₁₂ = ? 3.49, C₁₂₃ = ? 1.13, C₁₄₄ = ? 2.82, C₁₅₅ = ? 1.44 and C₄₅₆ = ? 0.69 in units of 10¹¹Nm^?2) also resemble those of GaP: even the anharmonicity of the long wavelength acoustic modes of this ternary semiconductor resembles that of its binary “parent” compound. The positive signs of the hydrostatic pressure derivatives and the negative signs of the third order elastic constants show that the acoustic modes at the long wavelength limit stiffen under pressure, an effect which is quantified here by computation of the mode Grüneisen parameters, which are all positive. The harmonic and anharmonic force constants, obtained in the valence force field model, fit well into the pattern shown by related zincblende structure compounds: the ratio ($\text{β}\text{α}$) for bond bending (β) to stretching (α) force constants is greater than 4:1; the dominating anharmonic force constant is γ: most of the anharmonicity is associated with nearest neighbour atoms. Analysis of the temperature dependence of the elastic constants on the basis of a simple anharmonic model again emphasises the similarity between the elastic behaviour of CuGe₂P₃ and GaP. The thermal expansion of CuGe₂P₃ varies almost linearly with temperature between 291 K and 1000 K, the linear coefficient of thermal expansion α being 8.21 ± 0.02 × 10^?6 °C^?1. The similar lattice parameters and elastic behaviour of CuGe₂P₃ and GaP indicate that semiconducting devices made of epitaxial deposits of CuGe₂P₃ on a GaP substrate should prove to be almost strain-free.     

Reactivity of the bridged-sulfide complex Pd2Cl2(μ-S)(μ-dmpm)2 toward electrophiles

The dipalladium(I) complex Pd(2)Cl(2)(dmpm)(2) (1a) [dmpm = bis(dimethylphosphino)methane] is known to react with elemental sulfur (S(8)) to give the bridged-sulfide complex Pd(2)Cl(2)(μ-S)(dmpm)(2) (2a) but, in the presence of excess S(8), PdCl(2)[P,S-dmpm(S)] (4a) and dmpm(S)(2) are generated. Treatment of 1a with elemental selenium (Se(8)), however, gives only Pd(2)Cl(2)(μ-Se)(dmpm)(2) (3a). Complex 4a is best made by reaction of trans-PdCl(2)(PhCN)(2) with dmpm(S). Complex 2a reacts with MeI to yield initially Pd(2)I(2)(μ-S)(dmpm)(2) and MeCl, and then Pd(2)I(2)(μ-I)(2)(dmpm)(2) and Me(2)S, whereas alkylation of 2a with MeOTf generates the cationic, bridged-methanethiolato complex [Pd(2)Cl(2)(μ-SMe)(dmpm)(2)]OTf (5). Oxidation of 2a with m-CPBA forms a mixture of Pd(2)Cl(2)(μ-SO)(dmpm)(2) and Pd(2)Cl(2)(μ-SO(2))(dmpm)(2), whereas Pd(2)Br(2)(μ-S)(dmpm)(2) reacts selectively to give Pd(2)Br(2)(μ-SO)(dmpm)(2) (6b). Treatment of the Pd(2)X(2)(μ-S)(dmpm)(2) complexes with X(2) (X = halogen) removes the bridged-sulfide as S(8), with co-production of Pd(II)(dmpm)-halide species. X-ray structures of 3a, 5 and 6b are presented. Reactions of dmpm with S(8) and Se(8) are clarified. Differences in the chemistry of the dmpm systems with that of the corresponding dppm systems [dppm = bis(diphenylphosphino)methane] are discussed.     

Infrared reflectivity of Ag6Ge10P12

Infrared reflectivity spectra of p-type Ag₆Ge₁₀P₁₂ single crystals were measured at room temperature in the wavenumber range from 180 to 4000 cm^-1. Fits to a dielectric function including contributions from lattice oscillators and free carriers gave the parameters of five lattice vibrational modes and an effective hole mass of m_p/m_o = 2.3.