Pentafluoroethyl Bismuth Compounds.

A series of tris-, bis-, and mono(pentafluoroethyl)bismuthanes of the type (C₂F₅) _nBiX_{3- n} (X=F, Cl, Br, I) and transition metal complexes are accessible by a sophisticated pentafluoroethylation protocol. Chemical properties, induced by the strongly electron-withdrawing character of C₂F₅ groups, are described for representative examples. Moreover, the first molecular structures of perfluoroalkyl bismuthanes and bismuthates obtained by X-ray diffraction are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]