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Molecular growth from a Mo176 to a Mo248 cluster

Nature volume 397, pages 48–50 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

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 blocks1, 2. These species exhibit unusual topological and electronic properties, andfind applications ranging from medicine3 to industrial processes4. 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.

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Figure 1: Schematic view of the relation between the {Mo176} and the {Mo248} clusters in polyhedral representation.
Figure 2: View into the cavity (shown grey) of the {Mo248} cluster.

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References

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Acknowledgements

We thank E. Krickemeyer, B. Hauptfleisch, C. Beugholt, E. Diemann and F. Peters for their collaboration. This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie.

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  1. Lehrstuhl für Anorganische Chemie I. Fakultät für Chemie, Universität Bielefeld, Postfach 100131, D-33501 , Bielefeld, Germany

    A. Müller, Syed Q. N. Shah, H. Bögge & M. Schmidtmann

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  1. A. Müller
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  2. Syed Q. N. Shah
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  3. H. Bögge
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  4. M. Schmidtmann
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Correspondence to A. Müller.

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Müller, A., Shah, S., Bögge, H. et al. Molecular growth from a Mo176 to a Mo248 cluster . Nature 397, 48–50 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/16215

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