Pentamagnesium digallide explained

Pentamagnesium digallide, also known as magnesium gallide(−V), is a chemical compound in the family of magnesium gallides (Mg_xGa_y). This compound has gallium in the rare oxidation state −5 and is produced by splat quenching of a molten mixture of magnesium and gallium metal then heating the resulting substance to 350 °C:^{[1] [2]}

5Mg + 2Ga → Mg₅Ga₂It is an unwanted product when magnesium-gallium alloys are exposed to high temperatures.^[3]

Notes and References

1. Bruno Predel . Knut Hülse . Metastabile kristalline und glasartige phasen im system Magnesium-Gallium . Journal of the Less Common Metals . 1979 . 63 . 1 . 45–56 . 10.1016/0022-5088(79)90207-8 . en.
2. News: Colture. Ein Programm zur interaktiven Visualisierung von Festkörperstrukturen sowie Synthese, Struktur und Eigenschaften von binären und ternären Alkali- und Erdalkalimetallgalliden. Patrick Hofmann. 72. de.
3. Yan Feng . Ri-chu Wang . Chao-qun Peng . Hui-ping Tang . Hai-yan Liu . Influence of Mg5Ga2 compound on microstructures and electrochemical properties of Mg-5%Hg-22%Ga alloy . Progress in Natural Science: Materials International . 2011 . 21 . 1 . 73–79 . 10.1016/S1002-0071(12)60028-8 . en. free .