Hydride-Mediated Controlled Growth of a Bimetallic (Pd@Au₈)²⁺ Superatom to a Hydride-Doped (HPd@Au₁₀)³⁺ Superatom

A hydride (H^-)-doped bimetallic superatom (HPdAu₈)⁺ was produced by reacting BH₄^- with an oblate (PdAu₈)²⁺ superatom protected by PPh₃. The H atom in (HPdAu₈)⁺ survived during the sequential addition of Au(I)Cl to form an (HPdAu₁₀)³⁺ superatom, in sharp contrast to the proton release from a H^--doped pure gold superatom (HAu₉)²⁺ in the growth process to (Au₁₁)³⁺. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis and density functional theory calculations on (HPdAu₁₀)³⁺ showed that the interstitially doped H atom induced a notable deformation of the core.