2,6-Diisopropylanilinium Bromobismuthates

A systematic approach to obtain bromobismuthates with various bismuth/halide ratios stabilised by 2,6-diisopropylanilinium cations [ArNH3] (Ar = 2,6-diisopropylphenyl) is presented. New bromobismuthate compounds [(ArNH3)(BiBr4)](infinity) (1), [(ArNH3)(3)(Bi2Br9)](infinity) (2), [(ArNH3) (3)(BiBr6)] (3) and [(ArNH3)(4)(BiBr6)(Br)] (4) with Bi/Br ratios of 1:4, 1:4.5, 1:6 and 1:7 have been isolated and structurally characterised. [Bi(2)B(r)9](infinity) is a new structural motif in halobismuthate chemistry. In all the compounds, extensive hydrogen bonding is observed between the bromobismuthate moiety and the 2,6-diiosopropylanilinium cation, thus stabilising the inorganic-organic hybrid structures. Preliminary optical spectroscopic studies indicate that the optical band gap can be tuned by controlling the bismuth/halide ratio, which results in different dimensionalities in the halobismuthate structure. The compounds exhibit thermal stability up to 250 degrees C.