Molecular growth from a Mo 176 to a Mo 248 cluster

• Published in: Nature (London) 1999-01, Vol.397 (6714), p.48-50
• Main Authors: Müller, A, Shah, Syed Q. N, Bögge, H, Schmidtmann, M
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687
• DOI: 10.1038/16215

In polyoxometalate chemistry a large variety of compounds, clusters and solid-state structures can be formed by the linking together of well-defined metal-oxygen building blocks, . These species exhibit unusual topological and electronic properties, andfind applications ranging from medicine to industrial processes. The recently reported ring-shaped mixed-valence polyoxomolybdates of the type {Mo154} (refs 5, 6) and {Mo176} (refs 7, 8) represent a new class of giant clusters with nanometre-sized cavities and interesting properties for host-guest chemistry. Here we describe the formation of related clusters of the type {Mo248} formed by addition of further units to the inner surface of the {Mo176 } 'wheel'. The additional units arrange themselves into two {Mo36} 'hub-caps' on the initial wheel-clusters that are not stable in isolation. These findings reveal a new pathway to the development of complex coordination clusters.