Three-Dimensional Sandwich Nanocubes Composed of 13-Atom Palladium Core and Hexakis-Carbocycle Shell

Coordination of cyclic unsaturated
hydrocarbons to transition metal
generally gives bis-ligated sandwich complexes, which are a fundamental
class of organometallic compounds. This sandwich structure may be
extended to a higher-order three-dimensional one when more than two
carbocyclic ligands surround an agglomerate of many transition metal
atoms. Here, we report synthesis of three-dimensional sandwich nanocube
compounds containing a close-packed transition metal cluster core.
Reduction of a [Pd3(μ3-C7H7)2]2+ with tetraarylborate under neat
conditions afforded [Pd13(μ4-C7H7)6]2+ containing a cuboctahedral
Pd13 core with an octahedral ligand-shell.