Inorganic Chemistry, Vol.41, No.24, 6206-6210, 2002
Formation of the magic cluster Na-8 in noble gas matrixes
The sodium molecules Na-2, Na-4, and Na-8 have been isolated in argon matrixes at 15 K and characterized for the first time by Raman spectroscopy. The vibrational frequencies are compared with density functional (DIFT) calculations. The Na-4 cluster possesses a rhombic structure (D-2h) with calculated d(Na-Na) = 307.2 and 347.4 pm, respectively. For octasodium, a hypertetrahedral structure (T-d) is predicted in which each side of an inner tetrahedron with d(Na-Na) = 331.5 pm is capped by sodium atoms with a distance of d(Na-Na) = 348.7 pm. The green octasodium cluster is the first example of a matrix-isolated magic number cluster. Its formation from blue tetrasodium is discussed on the basis of the observed sequence of cluster growth.