Structurally Characterized Mesostructured Hybrid Surfactant−Inorganic Lamellar Phases Containing the Adamantane [Ge₄S₁₀]^4- Anion: Synthesis and Properties

The reaction of aqueous solutions of Na 4 Ge 4 S 10 with various surfactant alkyltrimethylammonium bromide salts yielded new surfactant−inorganic phases containing the adamantane thiogermanate anion [Ge 4 S 10 ] 4 - . The resulting [C n H 2 n +1 N(CH 3 ) 3 ] 4 Ge 4 S 10 phases with n = 12, 14, 16, and 18 crystallize in the triclinic space group P -1 and contain parallel inorganic planes of unconnected [Ge 4 S 10 ] 4 - clusters, separated at mesoscopic scale lengths by organic bilayers of interdigitated cationic surfactant chains. These air-stable compounds were characterized by thermal analyses, Raman, far-IR, and solid-state UV−vis reflectance spectroscopy. Their ability to absorb reversibly various alcohols was studied by in-situ X-ray powder diffraction.