Indium hydrocarbon solvents

A highly reactive indium powder is produced by the alkali-metal reduction of indium salts (e.g. InCl3) in hydrocarbon solvents.551... 

InR3 (R = alkyl or aryl) may be prepared conveniently by the reaction of diorganomercury species with activated indium metal. The latter is formed by reducing indium salts by alkali metals in hydrocarbon solvents. ... 

The process is based on a novel reaction using the otherwise well-studied metal-organic CVD process under conditions which support low temperature growth, i.e., catalysis of the reaction by protic hydrocarbon solvents and catalysis of whisker growth by metallic indium flux particles (droplets). The flux particles, in turn were produced in-situ during the reaction as a partial decomposition product of t-BusIn (Equation 13). 

In 1974, we reported a general procedure for the preparation of highly reactive indium metal powder [1]. The procedure involves the reduction of anhydrous indium trichloride with alkali metals in hydrocarbon solvents under an argon atmosphere. A typical combination is potassium metal and xylene as the solvent. The process works well for most any combination with the requirement that the boiling point of the solvent should exceed the melting point of the alkali metal. 

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