BENZYL-SUBSTITUTED TIN CHALCOGENIDES - EFFICIENT SINGLE-SOURCE PRECURSORS FOR TIN SULFIDE, TIN SELENIDE, AND SN(SXSE1-X) SOLID-SOLUTIONS

The benzyl-substituted tin chalcogenides (Bn(3)Sn)(2)S (1), (Bn(2)SnS) (3) (2), (Bn(3)Sn)(2)Se (3), and (Bn(2)SnSe)(3) (4), prepared from the corresponding benzyltin chloride and anhydrous sodium chalcogenide in THF, are convenient single-source precursors for tin sulfide or tin s elenide. Pyrolysis (450 degrees C) of these precursors gave gray or bl ack powders and bibenzyl as the major products. X-ray diffraction (XRD ) analysis of the powders from the linear compounds 1 and 3 showed tha t SnS and SnSe were produced along with elemental tin, as expected fro m the precursor stoichiometry. In contrast, the solids generated by cy clics 2 and 4 contained only SnS and SnSe respectively. Solid solution s of the formula Sn(SxSe1-x) were prepared by heating mixtures of 2 an d 4. The value of x could be controlled by varying the ratio of 2 to 4 . Combustion analysis showed less than 1% residual carbon in all tin s ulfide and tin selenide samples.