Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 22, 2025

From Molecules to Materials: Engineering New Ionic Liquid Crystals Through Halogen Bonding
Published on: March 24, 2018
Stabilization and Solvent Driven Crystal-to-Crystal Transition between New Bismuth Halides
Ramjee Kandel1,2, Gabriele Schatte1, Grace Cheng1
1Department of Chemistry, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario Canada, K7L 3N6.
Abstract:
The investigations of bismuth halide chemistry in DMSO/MeOH solutions led to the discovery of a new solvent-stabilized compound with a chemical formula of Cs3BiBr6·3DMSO. In addition, a new phase of Cs3BiBr6 was generated as a result of a crystal-to-crystal transition driven by the change in the solvent composition. The solvent stabilized Cs3BiBr6·3DMSO adopts an orthorhombic P212121 type crystal structure with unit cell dimension of a = 13.6160(6) Å, b = 14.4359(8) Å, and c = 14.6487(7) Å. Bulk single crystals of Cs3BiBr6·3DMSO with average size of 4.5 × 3.5 × 3.5 mm3 were grown by the antisolvent crystal growth method. With the change of the solvent composition from 2:1 DMSO: MeOH to 1:1 DMSO: MeOH, the single crystals of Cs3BiBr6·3DMSO underwent a crystal-to-crystal transition yielding another structurally distinct Cs3BiBr6 phase, with a tetragonal P42/m type structure and unit cell dimensions of a = 9.8394(5) Å, b = 9.8394(5) Å, and c = 8.0950(6) Å. Both compounds exhibit isolated BiBr6 octahedral resembling the structures of the zero-dimensional (0D) perovskites.
Related Concept Videos
SN2 Reaction: Transition State
When the nucleophile approaches the electrophilic carbon with its lone pairs, the halide acts as a leaving group and moves away with the electron-pair bonded to the carbon. Dotted partial bonds represent the bonds being formed or broken...
Recrystallization: Solid–Solution Equilibria
Halogenation of Alkenes
Consider the bromination of cyclopentene. Molecular bromine is polarized in the proximity of the π electrons of cyclopentene. An electrophilic bromine atom adds across the double bond, forming a cyclic bromonium ion intermediate.
Predicting Products: Substitution vs. Elimination
The following factors can influence the mechanisms competing against each other:
Radical Substitution: Hydrogenolysis of Alkyl Halides with Tributyltin Hydride
The bonds formed in this reaction are stronger than the bonds broken, making it energetically favorable. The reaction follows a radical chain mechanism similar to radical halogenation reactions,...
Alkyl Halides
Alkyl halides are halogen-substituted alkanes wherein one or more hydrogen atoms of an alkane is replaced by a halogen atom such as fluorine, chlorine, bromine, or iodine. The carbon atom in an alkyl halide is bonded to the halogen atom, which is sp3-hybridized and exhibits a tetrahedral shape.
Unlike alkyl halides, compounds in which a halogen atom is bonded to an sp2 -hybridized carbon atom of a carbon-carbon double bond (C=C) are called vinyl halides. Whereas aryl...

