The Transition from Molecules to Solids: Molecular Syntheses of Ni9Te6(PEt3)8, Ni20Te18(PEt3)12, and NiTe.

Trialkylphosphine tellurides are useful as organometallic equivalents of elemental tellurium for the preparation of solid-state metal tellurides. The initial indication of the utility of phosphine tellurides is their ability to reversibly deposit zerovalent tellurium. This communication describes the synthesis of the solid state compound nickel telluride, NiTe, using these organometallic reagents as the sources of Ni and Te. In addition, we report the isolation and crystallographic characterization of two interned intermediates: the clusters Ni{sub 9}Te{sub 6}(PEt{sub 3}){sub 8} and Ni{sub 20}Te{sub 18}(PEt{sub 3}){sub 12}.