Tellurium dichloride is a

chloride The term chloride refers to a compound or molecule that contains either a chlorine anion (), which is a negatively charged chlorine atom, or a non-charged chlorine atom covalently bonded to the rest of the molecule by a single bond (). The pr ...

tellurium Tellurium is a chemical element; it has symbol Te and atomic number 52. It is a brittle, mildly toxic, rare, silver-white metalloid. Tellurium is chemically related to selenium and sulfur, all three of which are chalcogens. It is occasionally fou ...

with the chemical formula TeCl₂.

Preparation

Tellurium dichloride can be produced by reacting tellurium with difluorodichloromethane. It can also be produced by the

comproportionation Comproportionation or symproportionation is a chemical reaction where two reactants containing the same element but with different oxidation numbers, form a compound having an intermediate oxidation number. It is the opposite of disproportionatio ...

of tellurium and

tellurium tetrachloride Tellurium tetrachloride is the inorganic compound with the empirical formula TeCl4. The compound is volatile, subliming at 200 °C at 0.1 mmHg. Molten TeCl4 is ionic, dissociating into TeCl3+ and Te2Cl102−. Structure TeCl4 is mono ...

Properties

Tellurium dichloride is a black solid that reacts with water. It melts into a black liquid and vapourizes into a purple gas. The gas consists of monomeric TeCl₂ molecules with Te–Cl

bond length In molecular geometry, bond length or bond distance is defined as the average distance between Atomic nucleus, nuclei of two chemical bond, bonded atoms in a molecule. It is a Transferability (chemistry), transferable property of a bond between at ...

s of 2.329 Å and a Cl–Te–Cl

bond angle Molecular geometry is the three-dimensional arrangement of the atoms that constitute a molecule. It includes the general shape of the molecule as well as bond lengths, bond angles, torsional angles and any other geometrical parameters that deter ...

of 97.0°. Tellurium dichloride (TeCl₂) is unstable with respect to

disproportionation In chemistry, disproportionation, sometimes called dismutation, is a redox reaction in which one compound of intermediate oxidation state converts to two compounds, one of higher and one of lower oxidation state. The reverse of disproportionatio ...

. Several complexes of it are known and well characterized. They are prepared by treating tellurium dioxide with

hydrochloric acid Hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid or spirits of salt, is an aqueous solution of hydrogen chloride (HCl). It is a colorless solution with a distinctive pungency, pungent smell. It is classified as a acid strength, strong acid. It is ...

in the presence of

thiourea Thiourea () is an organosulfur compound with the formula and the structure . It is structurally similar to urea (), with the oxygen atom replaced by sulfur atom (as implied by the '' thio-'' prefix). The properties of urea and thiourea differ s ...

s. The thiourea serves both as a ligand and as a reductant, converting Te(IV) to Te(II).

References

{{chlorides Tellurium(II) compounds Chlorides Gases with color