Tellurium tetraiodide (
Te I4) is an
inorganic
In chemistry, an inorganic compound is typically a chemical compound that lacks carbon–hydrogen bonds, that is, a compound that is not an organic compound. The study of inorganic compounds is a subfield of chemistry known as ''inorganic chemist ...
chemical compound
A chemical compound is a chemical substance composed of many identical molecules (or molecular entities) containing atoms from more than one chemical element held together by chemical bonds. A molecule consisting of atoms of only one element ...
. It has a tetrameric structure which is different from the tetrameric solid forms of
TeCl4 and
TeBr4.
In TeI
4 the Te atoms are octahedrally coordinated and edges of the octahedra are shared.
TeI
4 can be prepared from the elements or by reacting Te and
iodomethane
Iodomethane, also called methyl iodide, and commonly abbreviated "MeI", is the chemical compound with the formula CH3I. It is a dense, colorless, volatile liquid. In terms of chemical structure, it is related to methane by replacement of one ...
, CH
3I.
In the vapour TeI
4 dissociates:
[''Inorganic Chemistry'',Egon Wiberg, Arnold Frederick Holleman Elsevier 2001 ]
:TeI
4 → TeI
2 + I
2
It is a conductor when molten, dissociating into the ions TeI
3+ and I
−. In solvents with donor properties such as
acetonitrile
Acetonitrile, often abbreviated MeCN (methyl cyanide), is the chemical compound with the formula and structure . This colourless liquid is the simplest organic nitrile ( hydrogen cyanide is a simpler nitrile, but the cyanide anion is not clas ...
, CH
3CN ionic complexes are formed which make the solution conducting:
:TeI
4 + 2 CH
3CN → (CH
3CN)
2TeI
3+ + I
−
References
Iodides
Tellurium halides
Tellurium(IV) compounds
Chalcohalides
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