Ternary alkali metal transition metal acetylides A2MC2 (A = Na, K; M = Pd, Pt)

Ternary transition metal acetylides A2MC2 (A = Na, K; M = Pd, Pt) can be synthesised by reaction of the respective alkali metal acetylide A2C2 with palladium or platinum in an inert atmosphere at about 350 degrees C. The crystal structures are characterised by (infinity)1M(C2)(2/2)2-] chains, which are separated by the alkali metals (P3m1, Z = 1). The refinement of neutron powder diffraction data gave C-C = 1.263(3) A for Na2PdC2 (Na2PtC2: 1.289(4) A), which is distinctively longer than the expected value for a C-C triple bond (1.20 A). On the basis of band-structure calculations this can be attributed to a strong back-bonding from the metal into the anti-bonding orbitals of the C2 unit. This was further confirmed by Raman spectroscopic investigations, which showed that the wavenumbers of the C-C stretching vibrations in Na2PdC2 and Na2PtC2 are about 100 cm(-1) smaller than in acetylene. 13C MAS-NMR spectra demonstrated that the acetylenic C2 units in the title compounds are very different from those in acetylene. Electrical conductivity measurements and band-structure calculations showed that the black title compounds are semiconductors with a small indirect band gap (approximately 0.2 eV).