H12Pd28(PtPMe3)(PtPPh3)12(CO)27, a High-Nuclearity Pd28Pt13 Cluster Containing 12 Hydrido Atoms: A Possible Molecular Hydrogen-Storage Model for Palladium Metal

Sub-nanometre sized metal clusters: from synthetic challenges to the unique property discoveries

Sub-nanometre sized metal clusters, with dimensions between metal atoms and nanoparticles, have attracted more and more attention due to their unique electronic structures and the subsequent unusual physical and chemical properties. However, the tiny size of the metal clusters brings the difficulty of their synthesis compared to the easier preparation of large nanoparticles. Up to now various synthetic techniques and routes have been successfully applied to the preparation of sub-nanometre clusters. Among the metals, gold clusters, especially the alkanethiolate monolayer protected clusters (MPCs), have been extensively investigated during the past decades. In recent years, silver and copper nanoclusters have also attracted enormous interest mainly due to their excellent photoluminescent properties. Meanwhile, more structural characteristics, particular optical, catalytic, electronic and magnetic properties and the related technical applications of the metal nanoclusters have been discovered in recent years. In this critical review, recent advances in sub-nanometre sized metal clusters (Au, Ag, Cu, etc.) including the synthetic techniques, structural characterizations, novel physical, chemical and optical properties and their potential applications are discussed in detail. We finally give a brief outlook on the future development of metal nanoclusters from the viewpoint of controlled synthesis and their potential applications.

Syntheses, structures and properties of primarily nanosized homo/heterometallic palladium CO/PR3-ligated clusters

Syntheses, properties and structures of nanosized palladium CO/PR(3)-ligated homo- and heterometallic clusters containing up to 165 metal atoms are the focus of this review. The work discussed is primarily that of the authors and their coworkers. We propose that the unparalleled variety of structural types and the distinctive reactivities of neutral Pd(n)(CO)(x)(PR(3))(y) clusters composed of zerovalent Pd atoms are a consequence of relatively weak Pd-L(ligand) and Pd(0)-Pd(0) interactions that result from the stable 5s(0)4d(10) closed-shell electron configuration of atomic Pd in its ground state.

Pinning of size-selected Pd nanoclusters on graphite

The production of stable cluster arrays on smooth surfaces has several potential technological applications. We report a study of the pinning of size-selected palladium nanoclusters on the graphite surface. The clusters formed during gas aggregation in vacuum are projected with sufficient kinetic energy to create a defect in the graphite surface. The energy necessary to create such an immobilizing defect is investigated as a function of the palladium cluster size. The palladium pinning energy is found to deviate from the simple binary collision model as appropriate to previously reported silver and gold results. This finding is in agreement with the deviation of nickel clusters and points to the influence of the interatomic cluster bonding on the mechanics of the collision.

High Hydride Count Rhodium Octahedra, [Rh6(PR3)6H12][BArF4]2: Synthesis, Structures, and Reversible Hydrogen Uptake under Mild Conditions

A new class of transition metal cluster is described, [Rh(6)(PR(3))(6)H(12)][BAr(F)(4)](2) (R = (i)Pr (1a), Cy (2a); BAr(F)(4) = [B{C(6)H(3)(CF(3))(2)}(4)](-)). These clusters are unique in that they have structures exactly like those of early transition metal clusters with edge-bridging pi-donor ligands rather than the structures expected for late transition metal clusters with pi-acceptor ligands. The solid-state structures of 1a and 2a have been determined, and the 12 hydride ligands bridge each Rh-Rh edge of a regular octahedron. Pulsed gradient spin-echo NMR experiments show that the clusters remain intact in solution, having calculated hydrodynamic radii of 9.5(3) A for 1a and 10.7(2) A for 2a, and the formulation of 1a and 2a was unambiguously confirmed by ESI mass spectrometry. Both 1a and 2a take up two molecules of H(2) to afford the cluster species [Rh(6)(P(i)Pr(3))(6)H(16)][BAr(F)(4)](2) (1b) and [Rh(6)(PCy(3))(6)H(16)][BAr(F)(4)](2) (2b), respectively, as characterized by NMR spectroscopy, ESI-MS, and, for 2b, X-ray crystallography using the [1-H-CB(11)Me(11)](-) salt. The hydride ligands were not located by X-ray crystallography, but (1)H NMR spectroscopy showed a 15:1 ratio of hydride ligands, suggesting an interstitial hydride ligand. Addition of H(2) is reversible: placing 1b and 2b under vacuum regenerates 1a and 2a. DFT calculations on [Rh(6)(PH(3))(6)H(x)()](2+) (x = 12, 16) support the structural assignments and also show a molecular orbital structure that has 20 orbitals involved with cluster bonding. Cluster formation has been monitored by (31)P{(1)H} and (1)H NMR spectroscopy, and mechanisms involving heterolytic H(2) cleavage and elimination of [HP(i)Pr(3)](+) or the formation of trimetallic intermediates are discussed.

Synthesis and structural characterization of a series of high-hydride content osmium–rhodium carbonyl complexes by the hydrogenation of arene-coordinated clusters

The reaction of [Os3Rh(mu-H)3(CO)12] with an excess amount of 4-vinylphenol (as hydride acceptor) in refluxing m-xylene, chlorobenzene or benzene yielded the three new clusters [Os5Rh2(mu-CO){eta6-C6H4(CH3)2}(CO)16] 1, [Os5Rh2(mu-CO)(eta6-C6H5Cl)(CO)16] 2 and [Os5Rh2(mu-CO)(eta6-C6H6)(CO)16] 3. The treatment of [Os3Rh(mu-H)3(CO)12] 4 in refluxing toluene with an excess amount of 4-vinylphenol afforded a new complex, [Os4Rh(mu-H)(eta6-C6H5CH3)(CO)12], which was isolated as a brown complex in 20% yield together with two known compounds, [Os5Rh2(eta6-C6H5CH3)(mu-CO)(CO)16] in 10% yield and [Os3Rh4(mu3-eta1:eta1:eta1-C6H5CH3)(CO)13] in 5% yield. Complexes 1-4 were fully characterized by IR, 1H NMR spectroscopy, mass spectroscopy, elemental analysis and X-ray crystallography. The molecular structures of compounds 1-3 are isomorphous, and only differ in the arene-derivatives that attach to the same metal core. Their metal cores can be viewed as a monocapped octahedral, in which an osmium atom caps one of the Os-Os-Os triangular faces of the Os4Rh2 metal framework. Complex 4 has a trigonal-bipyramidal metal core with a C6H5Me ligand that is terminally bound to the Rh atom that lies in the trigonal plane of the metal core. The hydrogenation of [Os5Rh2(eta6-C6H5CH3)(mu-CO)(CO)16] with [Os3(mu-H)2(CO)10] in chloroform under reflux resulted in two hydrogen-rich compounds: [Os7Rh3(mu-H)11(CO)23] 5 and [Os5Rh3Cl(mu-H)8(CO)18] 6, both in moderate yields. The reaction of [Os5Rh2(eta6-C6H5CH3)(mu-CO)(CO)16] with hydrogen in refluxing chloroform yielded a new cluster compound, [Os5Rh(mu-H)5(CO)18] 7, in 20% yield, together with a known osmium-rhodium cluster, [Os6Rh(mu-H)7(mu-CO)(CO)18], as a major compound. Clusters 5, 6, and 7 have been fully characterized by both spectroscopic and crystallographic methods. Additionally, a deuterium-exchange experiment was performed on [Os7Rh3(mu-H)11(CO)23] 5 and [Os5Rh3Cl(mu-H)8(CO)18] 6. Both the compounds proved to be able to exchange the H atom with D in the presence of D2SO4, and the absence of the hydride signal in the 1H NMR spectrum is consistent with this. Therefore, clusters 5 and 6 may serve as appropriate new hydrogen storage models.

[(iPr3P)6Rh6H12]2+: A High-Hydride Content Octahedron that Bridges the Gap between Late and Early Transition Metal Clusters

Treatment of [(iPr3P)2Rh(nbd)][Y] {nbd = norbornadiene, Y = B{3,5-(CF3)2C6H3}4- [B(ArF)4] or 1-H-closo-CB11Me11-} with H2 (ca. 4 atm) results in the isolation, in moderate yield, of the octahedral cluster complex [(iPr3P)6Rh6H12][Y]2 1. The cluster (for both anions) has been characterized by NMR, mass spectroscopy, and X-ray crystallography. These show 1 to have 12 edge-bridging hydrogen atoms, and the structure bears more resemblance to clusters of the early transition metals with pi-donor ligands than those of the late transition metals with pi-acceptor ligands. Intermediate complexes on the route to 1, namely, the nonclassical dihydrogen complexes [(iPr3P)2Rh(H)2(eta2-H2)x][B(ArF)4] (x = 1 or 2), have been observed spectroscopically. The high hydride content of 1 makes it a possible model for nanocluster colloidal Rh(0) catalysts that are used in olefin and arene hydrogenation.

New high-nuclearity Ni–Pt carbonyl clusters: synthesis and X-ray structure of the ordered [HNi24Pt17(CO)46]5−and the substitutionally Ni/Pt disordered [Ni32Pt24(CO)56]6−cluster anions

Condensation between preformed Ni-Pt and Pt carbonyl clusters leads to the new [H(6-n)Ni(24)Pt(17)(CO)(46)](n-)(n= 5, 6) and the substitutionally Ni/Pt disordered [Ni(24)(Ni(12-x)Pt(x))Pt(20)(CO)(56)](6-) (x = 4) carbonyl clusters, the latter of which represents the highest nuclearity homoleptic carbonyl cluster anion so far reported.

High-Nuclearity Close-Packed Palladium-Nickel Carbonyl Phosphine Clusters: Heteropalladium [Pd16Ni4(CO)22(PPh3)4]2- and [Pd33Ni9(CO)41(PPh3)6]4- Containing Pseudo-Td ccp Pd16Ni4 and Pseudo-D3h hcp Pd33Ni9 Cores

[Pd(16)Ni(4)(CO)(22)(PPh(3))(4)](2)(-) (1) and [Pd(33)Ni(9)(CO)(41)(PPh(3))(6)](4)(-) (2) were obtained as the two major products from the reduction of PdCl(2)(PPh(3))(2) with [Ni(6)(CO)(12)](2)(-). Their crystal structures as [PPh(4)](+) salts were unambiguously determined from CCD X-ray crystallographic analyses; the resulting stoichiometries were ascertained from elemental analyses. Infrared, multinuclear (1)H, (31)P[(1)H] NMR, UV-vis, CV, variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility, and ESI FT/ICR mass spectrometric measurements were performed. The Pd(16)Ni(4) core of 1 ideally conforms to a ccp nu(3) tetrahedron of pseudo-T(d)() (4 3m) symmetry. Its geometry normal to each tetrahedral Pd(7)Ni(3) face (i.e., along each of the four 3-fold axes) may be viewed as a four-layer stacking of 20 metal atoms in a ccp [a(Ni(1)) b(Pd(3)) c(Pd(6)) a(Pd(7)Ni(3))] sequence. A comparative analysis of the different ligand connectivities about the analogous metal-core geometries in 1 and the previously reported [Os(20)(CO)(40)](2)(-) has stereochemical implications pertaining to the different possible modes of carbon monoxide attachment to ccp metal(111) surfaces. The unique geometry of the Pd(33)Ni(9) core of 2, which has pseudo-D(3)(h)() (6 2m) symmetry, consists of five equilateral triangular layers that are stacked in a hcp [a(Pd(7)Ni(3)) b(Pd(6)) a(Pd(7)Ni(3)) b(Pd(6)) a(Pd(7)Ni(3))] sequence. Variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility measurements indicated both 1 and 2 to be diamagnetic over the entire temperature range from 5.0 to 300 K. Neutral Pd(12)(CO)(12)(PPh(3))(6) (3) and [Pd(29)(CO)(28)(PPh(3))(7)](2)(-) (4) as the [PPh(4)](+) salt were obtained as minor decomposition products from protonation reactions of 1 and 2, respectively, with acetic acid. Compound 3 of pseudo-D(3)(d)() (3 2/m) symmetry represents the second highly deformed hexacapped octahedral member of the previously established homopalladium family of clusters containing uncapped, monocapped, bicapped, and tetracapped Pd(6) octahedra. The unprecedented centered 28-atom polyhedron for the Pd(29) core of 4 of pseudo-C(3)(v)() (3m) symmetry may be described as a four-layer stacking of 29 metal atoms in a mixed hcp/ccp [a(Pd(1)) b(Pd(3)) a(Pd(10)) c(Pd(15))] sequence.