Syntheses, X-ray structures and AACVD studies of group 11 ditelluroimidodiphosphinate complexes

Reactions of Na(tmeda)[N((i)Pr(2)PTe)(2)] with CuCl, AgI or AuCl (in the presence of PPh(3)) in THF produced the coinage metal ditelluroimidodiphosphinate complexes {Cu[N((i)Pr(2)PTe)(2)]}(3), (5), {Ag[N((i)Pr(2)PTe)(2)]}(6) (6) and Au(PPh(3))[N((i)Pr(2)PTe)(2)] (7), respectively. Complexes 5, 6 and 7 were characterized in the solid state by X-ray crystallography. Complex 5 is trimeric and exhibits a highly distorted Cu(3)Te(3) ring. In contrast, the Ag(I) complex 6 is a hexamer, and forms a twelve-membered Ag(6)Te(6) ring. The replacement of the (i)Pr groups on phosphorus by Ph results in an intriguing structural change to a tetramer with a boat-shaped Ag(4)Te(4) ring in {Ag[N(Ph(2)PTe)(2)}(4).2THF (8). The gold(I) complex 7 is monomeric. Aerosol-assisted chemical vapour deposition (AACVD) of compounds 5, 6 and 7 yields CuTe, Ag(7)Te(4), AuTe(2) and Au films, respectively. The films were grown at temperatures of 300-500 degrees C and characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive analysis of X-rays (EDAX).