The Intermetalloid Cluster Cation (CuBi8)3+
Research output: Contribution to journal › Research article › Contributed › peer-review
Contributors
Abstract
The reaction of Bi, BiCl3, and CuCl in the ionic liquid [BMIm]Cl⋅4 AlCl3 (BMIm=1-n-butyl-3-methylimidazolium) at 180 °C yielded air-sensitive shiny black crystals of (CuBi8)[AlCl4]2[Al2Cl7] and (CuBi8)[AlCl4]3. For both compounds X-ray diffraction on single crystals revealed monoclinic structures that contain the intermetalloid cluster (CuBi8)3+. It is the first pure bismuth cluster with a 3d metal and the first with a metal that does not form binary intermetallics with bismuth under ambient pressure. The cluster can be interpreted either as a copper(I) cation, η4-coordinated by a square-antiprismatic Bi82+ polycation (Bi−Cu 267 pm), or as a nine-atomic intermetalloid nido-cluster with 22 skeletal electrons and the C4v symmetry. One of the chloride ions of a tetrahedral [AlCl4]− group coordinates the copper atom (Cu−Cl 228 pm) and thereby completes its 18 electron count. DFT-based calculations, followed by real-space bonding analysis, revealed a multicenter bonding situation between copper and bismuth atoms with about seven shared electrons.
Details
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 127-132 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Chemistry - A European Journal |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Publication status | Published - 2 Jan 2018 |
| Peer-reviewed | Yes |
External IDs
| Scopus | 85039918107 |
|---|---|
| ORCID | /0000-0001-7523-9313/work/142238604 |
| ORCID | /0000-0002-2391-6025/work/142250207 |
| Scopus | 85039914172 |
| PubMed | 28977714 |
Keywords
Keywords
- bismuth, cluster compounds, coordination modes, copper, intermetalloid clusters