Methylgallium and methylindium: the first sighting of the simplest organic derivatives of Ga(I) and In(I)

Abstract

Gallium or indium atoms are shown to react with methane in solid Ar matrices upon UV photolysis (λ = 200–400 nm) to give initially the methylmetal hydride which undergoes photodissociation on broad-band irradiation (λ = 200–800 nm) to yield the methylmetal(I) compound, CH₃M (M = Ga or In); the products are characterised by their IR spectra afforced by the results of DFT calculations.

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