Mercury polycations

Mercury polycations are a group of related polyatomic ions made from the chemical element mercury. They include the mercurous ion Hg2+2 and larger ions with many connected mercury atoms. Some polymer ions are large enough to be considered "infinite".[1] Mercury making polycations gives it very different chemistry and crystal structure compared to related elements like zinc and cadmium.[2]

The mercury atoms are connected by covalent bonds, not the metallic bonds that normally connect atoms of metals like mercury. This is one of the first examples of a metal-metal covalent bond discovered by modern chemistry.

Mercury polycations are found in some minerals.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Brown, I. David; Cutforth, Brent D.; Davies, Colin G.; Gillespie, Ronald J.; Ireland, Peter R.; Vekris, John E. (1974). "Alchemists' Gold, Hg2.86 Asf6; an X-Ray Crystallographic Study of a Novel Disordered Mercury Compound Containing Metallically Bonded Infinite Cations". Canadian Journal of Chemistry. 52 (5): 791–793. doi:10.1139/v74-124.
  2. ↑ Volkova, L. M.; Magarill, S. A. (1999). "On formation of polyatomic mercury cations". Journal of Structural Chemistry. 40 (2): 262–269. Bibcode:1999JStCh..40..262V. doi:10.1007/BF02903655.
  3. ↑ Borisov, S. V.; Magarill, S. A.; Pervukhina, N. V. (2003). "[Hg3]4+Cation in Inorganic Crystal Structures". Journal of Structural Chemistry. 44 (3): 441–447. Bibcode:2003JStCh..44..441B. doi:10.1023/B:JORY.0000009672.71752.68.
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