Mercury bis(phenyltellurolate) as a precursor for the synthesis of binary and ternary nanoclusters

The reaction of Hg(TePh)2 with AgX (X = Cl, NO3) in the presence of PPh3 and PMePh2 in dimethylformamide (DMF) affords the cluster [Hg6Ag4(TePh)16] (1) at room temperature or [Hg6Ag4Te(TePh)14]2 (2) with heating. When Hg(TePh)2 is reacted with [Co(PPh3)2Cl2] or [Ni(PPh3)2Cl2], the clusters [Hg8Te(PhTe)12Cl4]Q [3; Q = [Co(DMF)6]2+ (3a), [Ni(DMF)6]2+ (3b)] are formed. The syntheses of 1 and 2 occur with the incorporation of AgI into the cluster, and the single-crystal analyses show that the two ternary clusters consist of Hg, Ag, and Te centers occupying well-defined positions. Compounds 3a and 3b do not show the incorporation of the metal into the cluster, but the CoII and NiII salts provide the Cl atom to generate the anionic cluster 3 stabilized by the [Co(DMF)6]2+ or [Ni(DMF)6]2+ ion.