Methylbismuth dichloride is the

organobismuth compound Organobismuth chemistry is the chemistry of organometallic compounds containing a carbon to bismuth chemical bond. Applications are few. The main bismuth oxidation states are Bi(III) and Bi(V) as in all higher group 15 elements. The energy of a bo ...

with the formula CH₃BiCl₂. It is a pale yellow solid. The compound can be prepared in two steps from diphenylbismuth chloride, first by methylation with

methylmagnesium chloride Methylmagnesium chloride is an organometallic compound with the general formula . This highly flammable, colorless, and moisture sensitive compound is the simplest Grignard reagent and is commercially available, usually as a solution in tetrahydro ...

. Treatment of the resulting methyldiphenylbismuthine with

hydrogen chloride The Chemical compound, compound hydrogen chloride has the chemical formula and as such is a hydrogen halide. At room temperature, it is a colorless gas, which forms white fumes of hydrochloric acid upon contact with atmospheric water vapor. Hyd ...

cleaves the two phenyl-bismuth bonds. The compound adopts a

polymer A polymer () is a chemical substance, substance or material that consists of very large molecules, or macromolecules, that are constituted by many repeat unit, repeating subunits derived from one or more species of monomers. Due to their br ...

ic structure wherein each

square pyramidal Square pyramidal geometry describes the shape of certain chemical compounds with the formula where L is a ligand. If the ligand atoms were connected, the resulting shape would be that of a pyramid with a square base. The point group symmetry i ...

Bi center is bound to four chloride

ligand In coordination chemistry, a ligand is an ion or molecule with a functional group that binds to a central metal atom to form a coordination complex. The bonding with the metal generally involves formal donation of one or more of the ligand's el ...

s and an apical

methyl group In organic chemistry, a methyl group is an alkyl derived from methane, containing one carbon atom bonded to three hydrogen atoms, having chemical formula (whereas normal methane has the formula ). In formulas, the group is often abbreviated a ...

. The bismuth centers are interconnected by doubly

bridged Bridging may refer to: Construction * Building of bridges across a gap * Cross bracing used between joists to stabilize them Electronics and computing * In electronics, using a low source impedance to drive a large load impedance for maximum vol ...

chloride centers.{{cite journal , doi=10.1021/om000749i, title=Syntheses and Chemistry of Methylantimony and Methylbismuth Dihalides: An Extended Two-Dimensional Framework in the Crystal Structure of CH₃BiCl₂ and Molecular Units in the Structures of [CH₃ECl₂(2,2'-bipyridine)] (E = Sb, Bi), year=2001, last1=Althaus, first1=Henrik, last2=Breunig, first2=Hans Joachim, last3=Lork, first3=Enno, journal=Organometallics, volume=20, issue=3, pages=586–589

References

Organobismuth compounds Chloro complexes