- The reaction of antimony and selenium in the Lewis-acidic ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium tetrachloridoaluminate, [BMIm]Cl·4.7AlCl3, yielded dark-red crystals of [Sb2Se2]AlCl4. The formation starts above 160 °C; at about 190 °C, irreversible decomposition takes place. The compound crystallizes in the triclinic space group Pequation image with a = 919.39(2) pm, b = 1137.92(3) pm, c = 1152.30(3) pm, α = 68.047(1)°, β = 78.115(1)°, γ = 72.530(1)°, and Z = 4. The structure is similar to that of [Sb2Te2]AlCl4 but has only half the number of crystallographically independent atoms. Polycationic chains 1∞[Sb2Se2]+ form a pseudo-hexagonal arrangement along [01-1], which is interlaced by tetrahedral AlCl4– groups. The catena-heteropolycation 1∞[Sb2Se2]+ is a sequence of three different four-membered [Sb2Se2] rings. The chemical bonding scheme, established from the topological analysis of the real-space bonding indicator ELI-D, includes significantly polar covalent bonding in four-member rings within the polycation. The rings areThe reaction of antimony and selenium in the Lewis-acidic ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium tetrachloridoaluminate, [BMIm]Cl·4.7AlCl3, yielded dark-red crystals of [Sb2Se2]AlCl4. The formation starts above 160 °C; at about 190 °C, irreversible decomposition takes place. The compound crystallizes in the triclinic space group Pequation image with a = 919.39(2) pm, b = 1137.92(3) pm, c = 1152.30(3) pm, α = 68.047(1)°, β = 78.115(1)°, γ = 72.530(1)°, and Z = 4. The structure is similar to that of [Sb2Te2]AlCl4 but has only half the number of crystallographically independent atoms. Polycationic chains 1∞[Sb2Se2]+ form a pseudo-hexagonal arrangement along [01-1], which is interlaced by tetrahedral AlCl4– groups. The catena-heteropolycation 1∞[Sb2Se2]+ is a sequence of three different four-membered [Sb2Se2] rings. The chemical bonding scheme, established from the topological analysis of the real-space bonding indicator ELI-D, includes significantly polar covalent bonding in four-member rings within the polycation. The rings are connected into an infinite chain by homonuclear non-polar Sb–Sb bonds and highly polar Sb–Se bonds. Half of the selenium atoms are three-bonded.…