Germanium(IV) iodide explained

Germanium(IV) iodide is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula GeI₄.

Preparation

Germanium(IV) iodide can be obtained by the reaction of germanium and iodine or the reaction of germanium dioxide and 57% hydriodic acid:^[1]

Chemical properties

Germanium(IV) iodide reacts with tetraalkyl tin at 250 °C to form R₂SnI₂ and R₂GeI₂ (R= Et, Bu, Ph).^[2] It reacts with germanium and sulfur at high temperatures to produce red GeSI₂ and orange Ge₂S₃I₂.^[3] It reacts with diiron nonacarbonyl in an ionic liquid ([BMIm]Cl/AlCl₃) at 130 °C to obtain Ge₁₂[Fe(CO)₃]₈I₄.^[4]

Physical properties

Germanium(IV) iodide is an orange-red crystalline solid that hydrolyzes in water. It is soluble in carbon disulfide and benzene, but less soluble in carbon tetrachloride and chloroform. It begins to decompose into germanium(II) iodide and iodine above its melting point.^[5] Germanium(IV) iodide crystallizes in the cubic crystal system, space group Pa (space group no. 205), with the lattice parameter a = 11.89 Å. The crystal structure consists of tetrahedral GeI₄ molecules.

Notes and References

1. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 54. 2. en. 0002-7863. Feb 1932. 621–623. 10.1021/ja01341a502. The Preparation of Germanium Tetrabromide and Germanium Tetraiodide. 2021-01-12. A. W. Laubengayer, P. L. Brandt. 2021-10-20. https://web.archive.org/web/20211020040925/https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ja01341a502. live.
2. Kocheshkov, K. A.; Fomina, N. V.; Sheverdina, N. I.; Zemlyanskii, N. N.; Chernoplekova, V. A. Reaction of tetraalkyltin with germanium tetrahalides. Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, 1973. 3: 711. ISSN: 0002-3353.
3. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids. 411. en. Mar 2015. 40–44. 10.1016/j.jnoncrysol.2014.09.018. Thermal decomposition study of GeSI2 and Ge2S3I2 glassy alloys. 2021-01-12. A.P. Velmuzhov, M.V. Sukhanov, A.D. Plekhovich, A.I. Suchkov, V.S. Shiryaev. 2015JNCS..411...40V .
4. Chemical Communications. 54. 10. en. 1359-7345. 2018. 1217–1220. 10.1039/C7CC08091C. Ge 12 Fe(CO) 3 8 (μ-I) 4 : a germanium–iron cluster with Ge 4, Ge 2 and Ge units. 2021-01-12. Silke Wolf, Wim Klopper, Claus Feldmann. 29336437 .
5. Book: Holleman . Arnold F. . Lehrbuch der anorganischen Chemie . Wiberg . Egon . Wiberg . Nils . 1995 . de Gruyter . 978-3-11-012641-9 . 101., verb. und stark erw. Aufl . Berlin.