Raman spectra of crystalline hydrolysis products of aqueous solutions of mercury(II) nitrate

Abstract

Raman spectra of the crystalline polymeric compounds [H_gOH]NO₃, [Hg₃O₂](NO₃)₂, and [Hg₃O₂](NO₃)₂,H₂O, obtained by hydrolysis of aqueous solutions of mercury(11) nitrate, are reported. For purposes of comparison with [HgOH]NO₃, the Raman spectrum of polymeric [HgNH₂]Cl is also recorded. The two most significant aspects of the Raman spectra of these hydrolysis products are the dependence of the frequency of the most intense Hg-O stretching mode on the number of mercury atoms bonded to a common oxygen in each compound and the appearance of the nitrate spectrum, which suggests in each case that the ion has symmetry lower than the free ion symmetry (D_3h). The spectrum of the solution from which the compound [HgOH]NO₃ is isolated is notable for the intensity of the Hg-ONO₂ stretching mode and the magnitude of the splitting of the originally degenerate v₃ frequency of the free ion.