Structure and bonding in some simple tungsten compounds. Deductions from tungsten-182 Mössbauer spectra

Abstract

The Mössbauer spectra of several simple tungsten compounds have been measured, using the 100 keV transition of tungsten-182. The Mössbauer quadrupole coupling is extremely sensitive to an asymmetric environment, and this enables much information on the electron distribution in tungsten compounds to be obtained. The results are considered in relation to the structure and bonding of the compounds studied; the large quadrupole couplings observed with many compounds are explained in terms of covalent bonding, with considerable variation in the bond order.