Organomercury compounds. Part II. Preparations of complexes of bisperfluoroalkylmercurials by decarboxylation reactions

Abstract

The preparations of 1,10-phenanthroline (phen) and 2,2′-bipyridyl (bipy) complexes of bistrifluoromethylmercury, bispentafluoroethylmercury, and bisheptafluoropropylmercury by thermal decarboxylation of the corresponding complexes of mercuric trifluoroacetate, mercuric pentafluoropropionate, and mercuric heptafluorobutyrate, respectively, are described. The phenanthroline complexes of the mercurials are monomeric in benzene, but the bipyridyl complexes undergo dissociation into bipyridyl and the corresponding mercurial. The relative stabilities of the bipyridyl complexes are (C₂F₅)₂Hg bipy (C₃F₇)₂Hg bipy > (CF₃)₂Hg bipy.