Tetrakis(acetonitrile)copper(I) tetrafluoroborate is a complex compound of copper with acetonitrile as the ligand and tetrafluoroborate as the counterion.
Tetrakis(acetonitrile)copper(I) tetrafluoroborate forms colorless crystals in the orthorhombic crystal system in the space group Pna21 with the lattice parameters a = 23.882 ÃÂ ; b = 8.3285 ÃÂ ; c = 20.338 ÃÂ , and twelve unit cells. The compound is isomorphous with tetrakis(acetonitrile)copper(I) perchlorate and tetrakis(acetonitrile)silver(I) perchlorate.
Tetrakis(acetonitrile)copper(I) tetrafluoroborate can be prepared starting from nitrosyl tetrafluoroborate according to the following equation:
The conversion appears to occur in two stages, initially producing a green-blue copper(II) complex. This complex is reduced to the colorless copper(I) complex by further treatment with metallic copper.
Tetrakis(acetonitrile)copper(I) tetrafluoroborate reacts with methoxyisobutyl isonitrile to produce tetrakis(methoxyisobutylisonitrile)copper(I) tetrafluoroborate:
is used to produce technetium(<sup>99m</sup>Tc)-sestamibi, which is of commercial value.