Mercurates from a Revised Ionothermal Synthesis Route: The Pseudo-Flux Approach.

K2Hg6Se7, Na2Hg3S2.51Se1.49, K2Hg3S1.03Se2.97, and K2Hg3S2.69Se1.31 were prepared by ionothermal treatment of K2Hg2Se3, Na2HgSe2, and K2Hg3Se4, respectively, in a nonclassical hydrosulfide ionic liquid (EMIm)(SH). In contrast to their lighter congeners, the title compounds could so far not be synthesized by inorganic polychalcogenide salt flux techniques. The applied method hence mimics polychalcogenide flux conditions, while operating at much lower temperatures below the decomposition temperature of the ionic liquid. It might thus be viewed as a pseudo-flux approach.