Halides from organomercury compounds

Organomercury compounds have had limited use in synthesis. One promising procedure, based on the availability of the mercury compounds from alkenes via organoboranes, is the synthesis of primary halides from alkenes. This procedure has the opposite regioselectivity to the direct ionic addition of hydrogen bromide... 

One of the earliest known organomercury macrocycles was the trimer of oriho-phenylene mercury, (o-C6H4Hg)3, known from X-ray diffraction studies to have a planar cyclic structure, 1 [1, 2]. It has recently been found, with the aid of Hg NMR spectroscopy, that this compound forms complexes with hahde anions (Cl, Br and I ) in dichloromethane solution, but the complexes could not be isolated in solid state [3]. The fluorinated analog (o-C6F4Hg)3, 2, is a much better electron acceptor and forms stable complexes with the same halide anions these could be... 

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