Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol.139, No.2, 619-622, 2017
Sb@Ni-12@Sb-20(-/+) and Sb@Pd-12@Sb-20(n) Cluster Anions, Where n =+1,-1,-3,-4: Multi-Oxidation-State Clusters of Interpenetrating Platonic Solids
K5Sb4 and K3Sb7 Zintl ion precursors react with Pd(PPh3)(4) in ethylenediamine/toluene/PBu4+ solutions to give crystals of Sb@Pd-12@Sb-20(n-)/PBu4+ salts, where n = 3, 4. The clusters are structurally identical in the two charge states, with nearly perfect I-h, point symmetry, and can be viewed as an Sb@Pd-12 icosahedron centered inside of an Sb-20 dodecahedron. The metric parameters suggest very weak Sb-Sb and Pd-Pd interactions with strong radial Sb-Pd bonds between the Sb-20 and Pd-12 shells. All-electron DFT analysis shows the 3- ion to be diamagnetic with I-h symmetry and a 1.33 eV HOMO-LUMO gap, whereas the 4- ion undergoes a Jahn-Teller distortion to an S = 1/2 D-3d structure with a small 0.1 eV gap. The distortion is predicted to be small and is not discernible by crystallography. Laser desorption-ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LDI-TOF MS) studies of the crystalline samples show intense parent Sb@Pd-12@Sb-20(-) ions (negative ion mode) and Sb@Pd-12@Sb-20(+) (positive ion mode) along with series of Sb@Pd12-y@Sb-20-x(-/+) ions. Ni(cyclooctadiene)(2) reacts with K3Sb7 in en/tol/Bu4PBr solvent mixtures to give black precipitates of Sb@Ni-12@Sb-20(n-) salts that give similar Sb@Ni-12@Sb-20(-/+) parent ions and Sb@Ni12-y@Sb-20-x(-/+) degradation series in the respective LDI-TOF MS studies. The solid-state and gas-phase studies of the icosahedral Sb@Ni-12@Sb-20(n-/n+) ions show that the clusters can exist in the -4, -3, -1, +1 (M = Pd) and +1, -1 (M = Ni) oxidation states. These multiple-charge-state clusters are reminiscent of redox-active fullerenes (e.g., C-60(n), where n = +1, 0, -1, -2, -3, -4, -5, -6).