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Updated: Jan 6, 2026
Synthesis of Nine-atom Deltahedral Zintl Ions of Germanium and their Functionalization with Organic Groups
Published on: February 11, 2012
Structural isomerism in the [(Ni@Sn9)In(Ni@Sn9)]5- Zintl ion
Chao Zhang1, Harry W T Morgan2, Zi-Chuan Wang1
1School of Materials Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Elemento-Organic Chemistry, Tianjin Key Lab for Rare Earth Materials and Applications, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China. sunlab@nankai.edu.cn.
Abstract:
A new Zintl cluster, [(Ni@Sn9)In(Ni@Sn9)]5-, has been isolated in two distinct isomeric forms, one where both Ni@Sn9 units are coordinated to the bridging In atom in an η3- mode, the other where one is η3- and the other η4-. Density functional theory indicates that the energetic separation between these two structures is minimal, suggesting that crystal packing plays a decisive role in the structural chemistry. A comparison of the electronic structure of [(Ni@Sn9)In(Ni@Sn9)]5- with [(Ni@Ge9)Ni(Ni@Ge9)]4-, which has four fewer valence electrons, sheds some light on possible mechanisms that lead to the fusion of cluster fragments.
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