Magnesium polonide (MgPo) is a salt of

magnesium Magnesium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mg and atomic number 12. It is a shiny gray metal having a low density, low melting point and high chemical reactivity. Like the other alkaline earth metals (group 2 ...

and

polonium Polonium is a chemical element; it has symbol Po and atomic number 84. A rare and highly radioactive metal (although sometimes classified as a metalloid) with no stable isotopes, polonium is a chalcogen and chemically similar to selenium and tel ...

. It is a polonide, a set of very chemically stable compounds of polonium.

Preparation

Magnesium polonide can be produced by heating a mixture of elemental magnesium and polonium at 300–400 °C.

Structure

Magnesium polonide has the nickeline (NiAs) structure. It is unusual among polonides in not being isomorphous with the corresponding

sulfide Sulfide (also sulphide in British English) is an inorganic anion of sulfur with the chemical formula S2− or a compound containing one or more S2− ions. Solutions of sulfide salts are corrosive. ''Sulfide'' also refers to large families o ...

selenide A selenide is a chemical compound containing a selenium with oxidation number of −2. Similar to sulfide, selenides occur both as inorganic compounds and as organic derivatives, which are called organoselenium compound. Inorganic selenides Th ...

and telluride; only mercury polonide (HgPo) shares this property.

References

{{inorganic-chemistry-stub Magnesium compounds Polonides Nickel arsenide structure type