Structure Determinations of Tris(pentafluoroethyl)gallane and -indane Dihydrate, [Ga(C2F5)3(OH2)2] and [In(C2F5)3(OH2)2], in the Solid and Gaseous Phases

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With this small project we propose to study the structures of tris(pentafluoroethyl)gallane and -indane dihydrate, [Ga(C2F5)3(OH2)2] and [In(C2F5)3(OH2)2], in the gas phase by electron diffraction and in the solid state by X-ray diffraction on in situ-grown crystals. The underlying compounds tris(pentafluoroethyl)gallane and -indane are rare examples of Lewis acids that can be described as being superhard and supersoft at the same time. For this reason, the adduct formation of such systems is of particular interest. For tris(pentafluoroethyl)gallane dihydrate, we have already been able to show in preliminary experiments that it has sufficient volatility to be evaporated without decomposition and can thus be studied as a free molecule in the gas phase. We expect to obtain detailed information about the structures of these compounds, which will improve our understanding of their stability and reactivity and that of the underlying Lewis acids. By comparing gas and solid state structures, we will be able to distinguish typical inter- and intramolecular interactions in these systems. These experimental investigations will be accompanied by high-level quantum chemical methods. It should be noted that this also offers the possibility of obtaining structural data for free molecules of heavy elements, for which there are only few examples so far, especially with respect to the simultaneous availability of such data for the solid and gas phases; such data are valuable reference systems for quantum chemical methods, which are usually poorly referenced for heavy atoms. Sample preparation and purification will be carried out by Berthold Hoge's group, while the structural studies in gas and solid state will be performed at the core facility GED@BI (Centre for Gas Electron Diffraction and Small Molecule Structures) in Norbert Mitzel's group.