Bis Tellurium Compounds

Tellurium derivatives of inorganic nature, such as tellurium dihalides, that form coordination compounds with organic ligands, such as thiourea and ethylenethiourea, are not included in this section. 

When bis[9-metacarboranyl] mercury interacted with tellurium in refluxing tetrahydro-furan in the presence of a catalytic amount of tetrabutyl ammonium iodide, 9-metacarboranylmercurio 9-metacarboranyl tellurium was formed in 60% yield 

Heating bis[9-metacarboranyl] mercury with tellurium at 300° produced bi 9-metacar-boranyl] tellurium. The same compound was formed when 9-metacarboranyl thallium bis[trifluoroacetate] was made to react with tellurium in dimethylformamide in the presence of tetrabutyl ammonium iodide.  

The condensation of o- or w-carborane with tellurium tetrachloride in refluxing dichloromethane in the presence of aluminum trichloride produced 9-carhoranyl tellurium trichlorides To facilitate the isolation of the tellurium compounds, the crude product was reduced with sodium sulfide in ethanol to the bis[9-carboranyl] ditellurium derivatives that were obtained as dark-red, air-stable crystals. 

Reduction of the ditellurium derivatives with sodium borohydride in ethanol and reaction of the resulting sodium 9-carboranetellurolate with methyl iodide yielded 9-carboranyl methyl telluriums (s.p. 185). 

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