Water-Soluble Pentagonal-Prismatic Titanium-Oxo Clusters

By using solubility control to crystallize the prenucleation clusters of hydrosol, a family of titanium-oxo clusters possessing the {Ti18O27} core in which the 18 Ti­(IV)-ions are uniquely connected with μ-oxo ligands into a triple-decked pentagonal prism was obtained. The cluster cores are wrapped by external sulfate and aqua ligands, showing good solubilities and stabilities in a variety of solvents including acetonitrile and water and allowing their solution chemistry being studied by means of electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy, 17O NMR, and vibrational spectroscopy. Furthermore, this study provides new titanium oxide candidates for surface modifications and homogeneous photocatalysis.