The formation of C4KHg14' has previously seen assumed to occur in two stages: firstly, the potassium intercalates with graphite to form C8K, which then reacts with Hg to form C4KHg, in which the Hg atoms form layers between two layers of K atoms. However, although we started with C8K, we failed to obtain C,KHg; instead, the X-ray spec- trum was *identical with that reported for C8KHgC4] (0=10.15 A). This is plausible if one takes into account that C4KHg is ...
