Morgan HWT, Shu CC, Sun ZM, McGrady JE. Missing Link in the Growth of Lead-Based Zintl Clusters: Isolation of the Dimeric Plumbaspherene [Cu
4Pb
22]
4.
J Am Chem Soc 2022;
144:8007-8017. [PMID:
35451815 PMCID:
PMC9100666 DOI:
10.1021/jacs.1c10106]
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Abstract
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We report here the
structure of an endohedral plumbaspherene, [Cu4Pb22]4–, the gold analogue of
which was previously postulated to be a “missing link”
in the growth of larger clusters containing three and four icosahedral
subunits. The cluster contains two [Cu2Pb11]2– subunits linked through a Cu2Pb4 trigonal antiprism. Density functional theory reveals that the striking
ability of mixed Pb/coinage metal Zintl clusters to oligomerize and,
in the case of Au, to act as a site of nucleation for additional metal
atoms, is a direct consequence of their nd10(n + 1)s0 configuration, which generates
both a low-lying (n + 1)s-based LUMO and also a high-lying
Pb-centered HOMO. Cluster growth and nucleation is then driven by
this amphoteric character, allowing the clusters to form donor–acceptor
interactions between adjacent icosahedral units or to additional metal
atoms.
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