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Abstract

An X-ray crystallographic study of trimethyltin fluoride has shown that this compound can best be described as a linear polymer containing a five co-ordinate tin atom, instead of the trimethyltin cation as believed earlier. Such trimethyltin compounds as the nitrate, perchlorate, trifluoromethyltrifluoroborate, tetrafluoroborate, hexafluoroarsenate, and hexafluoro-antimonate were synthesized,and their structural characteristics were determined spectroscopically from their infra-red spectra. All but one of these compounds were found to be linear polymers with five co-ordinate tin. The data indicated that the nitrate is most likely a discrete non-Ionic molecule with essentially a four co-ordinate tin. The di-ammine and di-pyrldine adducts of the perchlorate, and the di-ammine adduct of the nitrate are found to contain the (Me₃Sn B₂)⁺ cation (B = nitrogen base molecule). The same structure also applies in the case of the di-ammine adducts of the bromide and the chloride.