Diphenylmercury is a colourless, crystalline organomercury compound with the chemical formula

Chemical formula

A chemical formula or molecular formula is a way of expressing information about the atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound....

 C₁₂H₁₀Hg. It can be synthesised by the reaction of a 2:1 molar ratio of mercury(II) chloride

Mercury(II) chloride

Mercury chloride or mercuric chloride , is the chemical compound with the formula HgCl2. This white crystalline solid is a laboratory reagent and a molecular compound. It is no longer used for medicinal purposes Mercury(II) chloride or mercuric chloride (formerly corrosive sublimate), is the...

 and methyltriphenyltin in ethanol

Ethanol

Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...

. As with almost all organomercury compounds, the coordination geometry

Coordination geometry

The term coordination geometry is used in a number of related fields of chemistry and solid state chemistry/physics.-Molecules:The coordination geometry of an atom is the geometrical pattern formed by atoms around the central atom....

 at mercury is linear.

Preparation

Commercially available, the synthesis of this compound has been variously described in the literature. Diphenylmercury may be prepared by the reaction of phenylmercury acetate

Phenylmercury acetate

Phenylmercuric acetate is an organomercury compound used as a fungicide. When applied to the leaves of plants, it is an Antitranspirant....

 with benzene in the presence of sodium stannite, by the reaction of mercury halides with phenylmagnesium bromide

Phenylmagnesium bromide

Phenylmagnesium bromide, with the simplified formula , is a magnesium-containing organometallic compound. It is so commonly used that it is commercially available as a solution in diethyl ether or tetrahydrofuran . Phenylmagnesium bromide is a Grignard reagent...

, and the reaction of bromobenzene with sodium amalgam

Sodium amalgam

Sodium amalgam, commonly denoted Na, is an alloy of mercury and sodium. The term amalgam is used for alloys, intermetallic compounds, and solutions involving mercury as a major component. Sodium amalgam is often used in reactions as strong reducing agents with better handling properties compared...

.