The Unique Ambiphilicity of Tellurium in the [MesitylTe(I)(I2)(I3)]− Anion

Abstract

A first example of an aryltellurium(II) compound with three different bonding modes to iodine featuring covalent and non-covalent bonds such as two orthogonal, ambiphilic σ-hole interactions is introduced: [MesTe(I)(I2)(I3)]−. It is a member of a series of mesityltellurenyl anions, which are formed during reactions of (MesTe)2 with ZnI2, phenanthroline (phen) and iodine. [Zn(phen)3][MesTe(I)2] (1), [Zn(phen)3][{MesTe(I)-(I)…Te(I)Mes}{MesTeI2}] (2) and [Zn(phen)3][MesTe(I)(I2)(I3)][MesTeI2] (3) are isolated depending on the amount of iodine used. The products contain tellurium atoms bonded to a variety of iodine species (I−, μ2-I−, I2 and I3−) and are, thus, perfectly suitable to explore the amphiphilic behavior of tellurium(II) and its relevance for the formation of non-covalent bonds, where tellurium acts as both donor and acceptor simultaneously. The character of chalcogen and halogen bonds are evaluated by the combination of crystallographic data and computational methods.