Mössbauer-Effect Studies of Weak Nuclear Quadrupole Interactions in 119Sn

Abstract

Nuclear quadrupole interaction in some tin compounds has been investigated by the use of the Mössbauer effect. Stannic oxide shows a partially resolvable quadrupole splitting of 0.49±0.06 mm/sec at 1 atm pressure. The origin of the nuclear quadrupole interaction is attributed to the characteristic rutile crystal structure in SnO2. The absence of resolvable quadrupole splitting in stannic bromide and diphenyltin indicates that interpretations concerning the electric field gradient tensor based on the Mössbauer effect in 119Sn alone are not always sufficient to warrant definitive conclusions about molecular structures. It has been shown that this restriction is largely due to the relatively broad total natural linewidth for 119Sn, I=32+. Quadrupole-splitting and isomer-shift data for some phthalocyaninotin complexes indicate that simple correlations between chemical parameters, e.g., electronegativities, and Mössbauer parameters are not generally valid.