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Updated: Jan 8, 2026
Author Spotlight: Experimental Approaches for the Synthesis of Low-Valent Metal-Organic Frameworks from Multitopic Phosphine Linkers
Published on: May 12, 2023
A Silver Sulfide Cluster with Exterior Diphenylphosphinothioito Ligands Exhibiting a Triskele Motif
David M Rivillo1, Robert Burrow2, Michele O Vieira1
1Laboratory of Technological Processes and Catalysis, Institute of Chemistry, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul 91501-970, Brazil.
Abstract:
A novel silver sulfide cluster Ag53S20(Ph2PS)24 has been discovered with cubic shells of Ag and S atoms in the interior but with a unique outer shell consisting of a network of 24 ligands and 20 Ag atoms. The network can be described as a highly distorted octahedron with approximate chiral symmetry O, the eight corners being triskeles of the same symmetry in one molecule (the crystal is racemic: Δ and Λ enantiomers). The outside of the cluster is formed by the protecting hydrophobic 48 phenyl groups. The Ag-Ph2PS twisted cube of the Δ enantiomer corresponds closely to the motif of the Brazuca soccer ball. Thus, the cluster presents another rare example of a complex molecule that models a sports ball.
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