Tetra-''n''-butylammonium iodide (TBAI) is a

quaternary ammonium salt In chemistry, quaternary ammonium cations, also known as quats, are positively charged polyatomic ions of the structure , R being an alkyl group or an aryl group. Unlike the ammonium ion () and the primary, secondary, or tertiary ammonium cations ...

with an

iodide An iodide ion is the ion I−. Compounds with iodine in formal oxidation state −1 are called iodides. In everyday life, iodide is most commonly encountered as a component of iodized salt, which many governments mandate. Worldwide, iodine defic ...

counterion 160px, Polystyrene sulfonate, a cation-exchange resin, is typically supplied with as the counterion.">cation-exchange_resin.html" ;"title="Polystyrene sulfonate, a cation-exchange resin">Polystyrene sulfonate, a cation-exchange resin, is typical ...

. It is used for synthesizing tetra-''n''-butylammonium triiodide by mixing with

iodine Iodine is a chemical element with the symbol I and atomic number 53. The heaviest of the stable halogens, it exists as a semi-lustrous, non-metallic solid at standard conditions that melts to form a deep violet liquid at , and boils to a vi ...

Properties

The solid crystal of tetra-''n''-butylammonium iodide is in the

monoclinic In crystallography, the monoclinic crystal system is one of the seven crystal systems. A crystal system is described by three vectors. In the monoclinic system, the crystal is described by vectors of unequal lengths, as in the orthorhombic s ...

crystal system. It has

space group In mathematics, physics and chemistry, a space group is the symmetry group of an object in space, usually in three dimensions. The elements of a space group (its symmetry operations) are the rigid transformations of an object that leave it unchan ...

''C''2/''c''. The

unit cell In geometry, biology, mineralogy and solid state physics, a unit cell is a repeating unit formed by the vectors spanning the points of a lattice. Despite its suggestive name, the unit cell (unlike a unit vector, for example) does not necessaril ...

has dimensions a=14.2806 b=14.1864 c=19.5951 β=111.149. There are eight formulae in the unit cell (Z=8), which has volume 3702.4 Å³. The enthalpy of formation Δ_fH⁰ of tetra-''n''-butylammonium iodide is −499 kJ/mol, which is lower than that for the bromide or chloride (−540, −564 kJ/mol). At lower temperatures with water tetra-''n''-butylammonium iodide forms a

clathrate hydrate Clathrate hydrates, or gas hydrates, clathrates, hydrates, etc., are crystalline water-based solids physically resembling ice, in which small non-polar molecules (typically gases) or polar molecules with large hydrophobic moieties are trapped ins ...

. The tetra-''n''-butylammonium cation is large and hydrophobic. The absolute enthalpy of hydration (from gas phase) is −260 kJ/mol. The He(I) photoelectron spectrum of tetra-''n''-butylammonium iodide contains a peak at 11 eV due to the tetra-''n''-butylammonium cation, and at 7 and 8 eV due to iodide.

References

{{reflist Iodides Tetrabutylammonium salts

Properties

See also

References