The Al50Cp*(12) Cluster - A 138-Electron Closed Shell (L=6) Superatom

• Metal clusters stabilized by a surface ligand shell represent an interesting intermediate state of matter between molecular metal-ligand complexes and bulk metal. Such "metalloid" clusters are characterized by the balance between metal-metal bonds in the core and metal-ligand bonds at the exterior of the cluster. In previous studies, the electronic stability for the Al50Cp*(12) cluster was not fully understood. We show here that the known cluster Al50Cp*(12) can be considered as an analogue to a giant atom ("superatom") with 138 sp electrons organized in concentric angular momentum shells up to L = 6 symmetry.

Subject headings

NATURVETENSKAP  -- Kemi (hsv//swe)

NATURAL SCIENCES  -- Chemical Sciences (hsv//eng)

Keyword

thiolate-protected au-25

Aluminum

building-blocks

Shell

models

fullerene

ga-clusters

gold clusters

electronic-structure

complexes

metalloid al

Ab initio calculations

Superatoms

aluminum

chemistry

Cluster compounds

Publication and Content Type

art (subject category)

ref (subject category)