Transition metal chalcogenides exhibiting quasi-one-dimensional behaviour

Abstract

This paper presents a survey of transition metal chalcogenides (mainly sulphides and selenides) that exhibit unidimensional structural features and electronic properties arising therefrom. The survey indicates that linear, single-atom, chains of transition metals are formed in chalcogenides by sharing faces of MX₆ (X=chalcogen) trigonal prisms or octahedra as well as corners or edges of MX₄ tetrahedra. Besides these single-atom chain compounds, chalcogenides possessing multiple-atom chains are known among the early members of the transition series when the transition metal is in a low formal oxidation state. Typical examples of this class are Ti₅Te₄ and TlMo₃Se₃.