Dimethylcadmium is the

organocadmium compound An organocadmium compound is an organometallic compound containing a carbon to cadmium chemical bond. Organocadmium chemistry describes physical properties, synthesis, reactions and use of these compounds. Cadmium shares group 12 with zinc and me ...

with the formula Cd(CH₃)₂. It is a colorless highly toxic liquid that fumes in air. It is a linear molecule with C-Cd bond lengths of 213 pm. The compound finds limited use as a reagent in

organic synthesis Organic synthesis is a special branch of chemical synthesis and is concerned with the intentional construction of organic compounds. Organic molecules are often more complex than inorganic compounds, and their synthesis has developed into one o ...

and in

metalorganic chemical vapor deposition Metalorganic vapour-phase epitaxy (MOVPE), also known as organometallic vapour-phase epitaxy (OMVPE) or metalorganic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD), is a chemical vapour deposition method used to produce single- or polycrystalline thin films. ...

(MOCVD). It has also been used in the synthesis of cadmium selenide nanoparticles, although efforts have been made to replace it in this capacity due to its toxicity. Dimethylcadmium is prepared by treating cadmium dihalides with methyl

Grignard reagent A Grignard reagent or Grignard compound is a chemical compound with the general formula , where X is a halogen and R is an organic group, normally an alkyl or aryl. Two typical examples are methylmagnesium chloride and phenylmagnesium bromide ...

s or

methyllithium Methyllithium is the simplest organolithium reagent with the empirical formula CH3Li. This s-block organometallic compound adopts an oligomeric structure both in solution and in the solid state. This highly reactive compound, invariably used in so ...

. :CdBr₂ + 2 CH₃MgBr → Cd(CH₃)₂ + 2 MgBr₂ The same method was used in the first preparation of this compound. Dimethylcadmium is a weak

Lewis acid A Lewis acid (named for the American physical chemist Gilbert N. Lewis) is a chemical species that contains an empty orbital which is capable of accepting an electron pair from a Lewis base to form a Lewis adduct. A Lewis base, then, is any sp ...

, forming a labile adduct with

diethyl ether Diethyl ether, or simply ether, is an organic compound in the ether class with the formula , sometimes abbreviated as (see Pseudoelement symbols). It is a colourless, highly volatile, sweet-smelling ("ethereal odour"), extremely flammable liq ...

. A yellow, air-senstive adduct is formed with 2,2'-bipyridine.

References

{{authority control Cadmium compounds Neurotoxins Foul-smelling chemicals Methyl complexes Substances discovered in the 1910s