Characterization and Photochemistry of the Gallium and Indium Subhydrides Ga2H2 and In2H2 This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Habilitation grant to H.-J. H.), the CNRS (L. M.), and the EPSRC (A. J. D.).

The five binary species Ga(μ-H)2Ga, In(μ-H)2In (see left structure), HGaGaH, HInInH (center), and GaGaH2 (right) were prepared by matrix isolation and characterized unambiguously by IR spectroscopy and quantum-chemical calculations. Investigations of the photochemical properties reveal that each of the isomers can be interconverted by photolysis.