Characterisation of Germanium Monohalides by Solid-State NMR Spectroscopy and First Principles Quantum Chemical Calculations

Germanium(i) monohalides are useful starting materials to synthesise small, well defined germanium nanoclusters. However, due to the amorphous nature of solid GeBr and GeCl, details of their solid-state structures remain largely unknown. We investigate the arrangement within these novel binary materials using 35Cl, 79Br, and 73Ge solid-state NMR spectroscopy at 21.1 T and first principles quantum chemical calculations in order to suggest a possible model for the structure.