Issue 10, 2024

[Ag(Sn9–Sn9)]5− and [(η4-Sn9)Ag(η1-Sn9)]7−, as aggregates of spherical aromatic building blocks. Persistence of aromaticity upon cluster gathering

Abstract

Formation of cluster-based materials requires a fundamental understanding of the resulting cluster aggregation processes. The Sn94− Zintl-ion structure can be viewed as a building block featuring a spherical aromatic species, leading to a cluster gathering upon oxidative coupling and/or mediated by transition metals. Here, we evaluate the spherical aromatic properties of [Sn9–Sn9]6−, [Ag(Sn9–Sn9)]5− and [(η4-Sn9)Ag(η1-Sn9)]7−, as aggregates of two Sn9 building units held together via oxidative coupling and mediated by a Ag(I) transition metal center. Our results from magnetic criteria of aromaticity show that the inherent spherical aromatic characteristics of the parent Sn94− cluster are persistent in the overall aggregate where the enabled shielding cones ascribed to each Sn9 unit are able to interplay between them, leading to an overlap of the shielding regions. Hence, the two approaches for bringing cluster units together are able to retain the inherent spherical aromatic features for each Sn9 unit, leading to a cluster-based dimer where the parent properties remain. Thus, further cluster-based materials can be envisaged from aggregation upon oxidative coupling and/or mediated by transition metals, where the constituent building blocks retain their initial features, useful to guide the formation of more complex cluster-based aggregates.

Graphical abstract: [Ag(Sn9–Sn9)]5− and [(η4-Sn9)Ag(η1-Sn9)]7−, as aggregates of spherical aromatic building blocks. Persistence of aromaticity upon cluster gathering

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
07 nov 2023
Accepted
19 feb 2024
First published
20 feb 2024

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024,26, 8419-8425

[Ag(Sn9–Sn9)]5− and [(η4-Sn9)Ag(η1-Sn9)]7−, as aggregates of spherical aromatic building blocks. Persistence of aromaticity upon cluster gathering

P. L. Rodríguez-Kessler and A. Muñoz-Castro, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2024, 26, 8419 DOI: 10.1039/D3CP05394F

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements