The synthesis of clathrate-II germanium
24Ge
136 in an ionic liquid was recently discovered.
1 The key step in this process, the controlled oxidation of reactive precursor phases by a protic acid, was successfully applied to silicides M
4Si
4 (M = Na, K). Through this method, clathrate-I compounds of composition M
8-xSi
46 were obtained as crystalline products. The synthetic method demonstrates a mild oxidative route to a large class of metastable intermetallic compounds.