The Mackay-Type Cluster [Cu43 Al12 ](Cp*)12 : Open-Shell 67-Electron Superatom with Emerging Metal-Like Electronic Structure.
Jana WeßingChelladurai GanesamoorthySamia KahlalRémi MarchalChristian GemelOlivier CadorAugusto C H Da SilvaJuarez L F Da SilvaJean-Yves SaillardRoland A FischerPublished in: Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English) (2018)
The paramagnetic cluster [Cu43 Al12 ](Cp*)12 was obtained from the reaction of [CuMes]5 and [AlCp*]4 (Cp*=η5 -C5 Me5 ; Mes=mesityl). This all-hydrocarbon ligand-stabilized M55 magic atom-number cluster features a Mackay-type nested icosahedral structure. Its open-shell 67-electron superatom configuration is unique. Three unpaired electrons occupy weakly antibonding jellium states. The situation prefigures the formation of a conduction band, which is in line with the measured temperature-independent magnetism. Steric protection by twelve Cp* ligands suppresses the intrinsic polyradicalar reactivity of the Cu43 Al12 core.