Reactivity studies with sodium amalgams
Abstract In the course of systematic studies covering various aspects of the reactivity of alkali metal amalgams we report here about first results on the behaviour of selected sodium amalgams in liquid ammonia. Starting from the most alkali metal rich amalgam Na 3 Hg one can show that a stepwise extraction of sodium via Na 3 Hg 2 and NaHg takes place resulting in the final formation of insoluble NaHg 2 . We discuss how the stepwise extraction of sodium can be correlated to the degree of ‘condensation’ of mercury atoms to Hg n clusters in the sense of a topochemical reaction. Starting from pure Na 3 Hg (isolated Hg atoms in a matrix of Na atoms) the successive formation of Na 3 Hg 2 (isolated square Hg 4 clusters in a matrix of Na atoms), NaHg (one-dimensional zigzag chains of condensed Hg 4 rectangles in a matrix of Na atoms) and NaHg 2 (extended three-dimensional connection of Hg 4 rectangles) can be traced by X-ray powder methods. NaHg 2 and NaHg 4 are insoluble in liquid NH 3 .