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.