Benzyl-substituted tin chalcogenides. Efficient single-source precursors for tin sulfide, tin selenide, and Sn(SxSe1-x) solid solutions

The benzyl-substituted tin chalcogenides (Bn(3)Sn)(2)S (1), (Bn(2)SnS)(3) (2), (Bn(3)Sn)(2)Se (3), and (Bn(2)SnSe)(3) (4), prepared from the corresponding benzyltin chloride and anhydrous sodium chalcogenide in THF, are convenient single-source precursors for tin sulfide or tin selenide. Pyrolysis (450 degrees C) of these precursors gave gray or black powders and bibenzyl as the major products. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of the powders from the linear compounds 1 and 3 showed that SnS and SnSe were produced along with elemental tin, as expected from the precursor stoichiometry. In contrast, the solids generated by cyclics 2 and 4 contained only SnS and SnSe respectively. Solid solutions of the formula Sn(SxSe1-x) were prepared by heating mixtures of 2 and 4. The value of x could be controlled by varying the ratio of 2 to 4. Combustion analysis showed less than 1% residual carbon in all tin sulfide and tin selenide samples.