THE PREPARATION AND STRUCTURES OF PH(3)ASGAI(3) AND [PH(3)ASI][GAI4]

Colourless crystals of Ph(3)AsGaI(3) (1) have been prepared by reactio n of triphenylarsine with GaI3.OEt(2) in diethyl ether. The structure of 1, in which the length of the As-Ga donor-acceptor bond is 2.490(2) Angstrom, has been determined by an X-ray diffraction study. In conta ct with the solvent phase, 1 is transformed into yellow crystals of [P h(3)AsI][GaI4], 2 which has been structurally characterised by Raman S pectroscopy (As-I stretching at 196 cm(-1)) and by X-ray diffraction. The salt 2 is the first arsenic(V) iodo complex to have been examined crystallographically; the As-I bond distance is 2.485(1) Angstrom.