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| Names | |
|---|---|
| IUPAC name Mercury(I) hydride | |
| Other names Mercurous hydride Mercury monohydride | |
| Identifiers | |
3D model (JSmol) | |
| |
| |
| Properties | |
| HHg | |
| Molar mass | 201.600 g·mol−1 |
| Related compounds | |
Related compounds | Cadmium hydride |
Except where otherwise noted, data are given for materials in theirstandard state (at 25 °C [77 °F], 100 kPa). | |
Mercury(I) hydride (systematically namedmercury hydride) is aninorganic compound with thechemical formula HgH. It has not yet been obtained in bulk, hence its bulk properties remain unknown. However, molecular mercury(I) hydrides with the formulae HgH andHg
2H
2 have been isolated in solid gas matrices. The molecular hydrides are very unstable towardthermal decomposition. As such the compound is not well characterised, although many of its properties have been calculated viacomputational chemistry.
In 1979 and 1985, Swiss chemical physicists, Egger and Gerber, and Soviet chemical physicists, Kolbycheva and Kolbychev, independently, theoretically determined that it is feasible to develop a mercury(I) hydride molecular laser.
Mercury(I) hydride is an unstablegas[1] and is the heaviest group 12 monohydride. In mercury(I) hydride, the formaloxidation states of hydrogen and mercury are −1 and +1, respectively, because of theelectronegativity of mercury is lower than that of hydrogen. The stability of thediatomic metal hydrides with the formula MH (M = Zn-Hg) increases as the atomic number of M increases.
The Hg-H bond is very weak and therefore the compound has only beenmatrix isolated at temperatures up to 6 K.[2][3] Thedihydride, HgH2, has also been detected this way.
A related compound is dimercurane(2), or bis(hydridomercury)(Hg—Hg), with the formulaHg
2H
2, which can be considered to be dimeric mercury(I) hydride. It spontaneously decomposes into the monomeric form.
The mercury centre in mercury complexes such as hydridomercury can accept or donate a singleelectron by association:
Because of this acceptance or donation of the electron, hydridomercury hasradical character. It is a moderately reactive monoradical.
