Abstract
The complete series of tetrakis(halomercuri)methanes C(HgX)4 (X = F, Cl, Br and I) was prepared by metathesis of tetrakis(acetoxymercuri)methane and aqueous hydrofluoric acid and solutions of halides (Cl-, Br-, and I-), respectively. All compounds are insoluble in most common solvents, but partly soluble in dimethylsulfoxide. Complete vibrational spectra indicate more or less ideally tetrahedral molecules C(HgX)4 in all cases. The originally triply degenerate valence vibrations of the CHg4 entities and the force constants for the C-Hg bonds show distinct correlations with the electronegativities of the halides X. On the other hand the totally symmetrical valence vibrations of CHg4 were found to be highly sensitive to variations in X, mainly due to coupling with the valence vibrations of the Hg-X-groups of the same symmetry species. Some analogies in the vibrational behaviour of the CHg4 fragments and of the isosteric NHg4 core in tetramercurioammonium complexes were observed and discussed.
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