Synthesis and Structure of the First Tellurium(<scp>III</scp>) Radical Cation

The first TeIII radical cation 1 occurs as monomer in its AsF6 salt. This was proved for 1-AsF6, obtained unexpectedly from the reaction of Te(N(SiMe3)2)2 with AgAsF6 in the form of black crystals. The blue metastable solutions in CH2Cl2 and CHCl3 display only one broad ESR peak, showing that the unpaired electron occupies a p orbital on telluriurn.