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Updated: Jan 9, 2026

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Published on: April 9, 2018
Ionothermal Synthesis of Selenido Metalates in Tunable Aryl Alkyl Ionic Liquids (TAAILs)
Gina Stuhrmann1, Zhou Wu1, Isabell Nußbruch2
1Institute of Nanotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Kaiserstrasse 12, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany.
Abstract:
We report on the first reactions of selenido germanates in tunable aryl alkyl ionic liquids (TAAILs), namely, the treatment of [K4(H2O)3][Ge4Se10] with SnCl4·5H2O in (Ph4-BrC6Im)[NTf2], (Ph4-BrC8Im)[NTf2], (Ph4-BrC12Im)[NTf2], (Ph2-MeC8Im)[NTf2], and (Ph4-OMeC8Im)(NTf2), in the presence of 2,6-dimethylmorpholine (DMMP) as a basic auxiliary agent (PhY-X denotes a Ph group in the 1-position of the imidazolium cation (Im); the numeral Y specifies the ortho (2) or para (4) position of a substituent X at the Ph ring; and Cn denotes a linear alkyl substituent with n C atoms in the 3-position of the Im ring; NTf2 = bis(trifluoromethan)sulfonimide). The use of different TAAILs allowed the observation of different products: (Cat)24[Ge24Sn36Se132] (1), (Ph2-MeC8Im)2(DMMPH)2[Ge1.4Sn4.6Se14] (2), (Cat)6[GeSn8Se21] (3), (Cat)2[Sn3Se7] (4), and (DMMPH)4[Ge4Se10] (5). The compounds comprise cations from the corresponding TAAIL or (DMMPH)+, which is the monoprotonated derivative of DMMP that forms in situ (note that in some cases, extreme disorder of the cations did not allow their localization on the difference Fourier map; these are referred to as 'Cat' in their formula). We discuss the anionic substructures in comparison to those of known compounds based on Ge, Sn, and Se atoms and report the effect of the different architectures on optical absorption properties.
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