Triethylindium is an
organometallic
Organometallic chemistry is the study of organometallic compounds, chemical compounds containing at least one chemical bond between a carbon atom of an organic molecule and a metal, including alkali, alkaline earth, and transition metals, and so ...
compound. Its chemical formula is .
Synthesis
This compound can be obtained by reacting
indium(III) bromide
Indium(III) bromide, (indium tribromide), InBr3, is a chemical compound of indium and bromine. It is a Lewis acid and has been used in organic synthesis.
Structure
It has the same crystal structure as aluminium trichloride, with 6 coordinate indi ...
with a
diethyl ether
Diethyl ether, or simply ether, is an organic compound with the chemical formula , sometimes abbreviated as . It is a colourless, highly Volatility (chemistry), volatile, sweet-smelling ("ethereal odour"), extremely flammable liquid. It belongs ...
solution of
ethylmagnesium bromide
Ethylmagnesium bromide is a Grignard reagent with formula , often abbreviated to , where Et is ethyl group. It is widely used in the laboratory synthesis of organic compounds.
Reactions
Apart from acting as the synthetic equivalent of an ethy ...
:
:
Other routes are also known.
Properties
Indium triethyl is a colorless, toxic, oxidation and hydrolysis-sensitive liquid. It is a monomer in the gaseous and dissolved state. The compound reacts with
halomethanes
Halomethane compounds are derivatives of methane () with one or more of the hydrogen atoms replaced with halogen atoms ( F, Cl, Br, or I). Halomethanes are both naturally occurring, especially in marine environments, and human-made, most notabl ...
to form diethyl indium halides.
Triethylindium reacts violently with water:
:
Applications
Indium triethyl is used to prepare
indium phosphide
Indium phosphide (InP) is a binary semiconductor composed of indium and phosphorus. It has a face-centered cubic ("zincblende (crystal structure), zincblende") crystal structure, identical to that of gallium arsenide, GaAs and most of the List of ...
layers for
microelectronics
Microelectronics is a subfield of electronics. As the name suggests, microelectronics relates to the study and manufacture (or microfabrication) of very small electronic designs and components. Usually, but not always, this means micrometre ...
.
See also
*
Trimethylindium
Trimethylindium, often abbreviated to TMI or TMIn, is the organoindium compound with the formula In(CH3)3. It is a colorless, pyrophoric solid. Unlike trimethylaluminium, but akin to trimethylgallium, TMI is monomeric.
Preparation
TMI is prepare ...
References
{{Indium compounds
Indium compounds
Organometallic compounds