Tantalum(IV) iodide

Tantalum(IV) iodide is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula TaI4. It dissolves in water to give a green solution, but the color fades when left in the air and produces a white precipitate.

Preparation
Tantalum(IV) iodide can be prepared by the reduction reaction of tantalum(V) iodide and tantalum. If pyridine is used as the reducing agent, there is an adduct TaI4(py)2.

Tantalum(IV) iodide can also be obtained by reacting tantalum(V) iodide with aluminum, magnesium or calcium at 380 °C. Ta6I14 is also formed. This makes it difficult to produce a very pure crystallized tantalum(IV) iodide.


 * 3 TaI5 + Al -> 3 TaI4 + AlI3

Properties
Tantalum(IV) iodide is a black solid. It has a crystal structure isotypic to that of niobium(IV) iodide. Single-crystalline tantalum(IV) iodide was first obtained in 2008 by Rafal Wiglusz and Gerd Meyer as a chance product of a reaction in a tantalum ampoule that was supposed to lead to the product Rb(Pr6C2)I12. The single crystal has a triclinic crystal structure with space group P1 (space group no. 2) with two formula units per unit cell (a = 707.36 pm, b = 1064.64 pm, c = 1074.99 pm, α = 100.440°, β = 89.824° and γ = 104.392°). The crystal structure differs from that of other transition metal tetraiodides, which usually have a MI4/2I2/1 chain structure, as it consists of TaI6 octahedra bridged over a common surface to form a dimer. Two such dimers bridge over a common edge to form a tetramer.