Alkali-regulated Fe6 and Fe18 molecular clusters and their structural transformation. Issue 18 (6th August 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Li, Xiao-Yu; Zou, Ying; Han, Song-De; Wang, Guo-Ming
• Is Part Of: Inorganic chemistry frontiers. Volume 8:Issue 18(2021)
• Page Start: 4186
• Page End: 4191
• Publication Date: 2021-08-06
• Subjects: Chemistry, Inorganic -- Periodicals; 546.05
• DOI: 10.1039/d1qi00750e
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2052-1553

Abstract

Abstract : A cyclic Fe6 like a "six-vane windmill" and a bricky Fe18 clusters as a "Chinese knot" were obtained. Moreover, the alkali-induced conversion from Fe6 to Fe18 has been achieved, realizing the nuclearity enlargement and structural regulation. Abstract : As a kind of metastable aggregation between iron ions and iron hydroxide precipitates, Fe clusters can only be isolated under narrow synthesis conditions. Here, two Fe clusters with different structural models, [Fe6 (H2 thmmg)6 ] (Fe6 ) and [Fe18 O8 (OH)8 (H2 thmmg)10 ] (Fe18 ), are constructed based on a rare N -tris(hydroxymethyl)methylglycine (H5 thmmg) ligand. The cyclic Fe6 can be visualized as a "six-vane windmill" comprised of 6 Fe 3+ and 6 H2 thmmg 3− ligands. Unlike the cyclic configuration of Fe6, the Fe18 cluster features a bricky structure like a "Chinese knot" coordinated by three species, H2 thmmg 3−, OH − and O 2− . It was obtained by adding more triethylamine to the reactive solution of Fe6 which yielded more coordinated species OH − and O 2− . Moreover, the conversion from Fe6 to Fe18 was successfully achieved by adding more triethylamine, realizing nuclearity enlargement and structural regulation of Fe clusters. Furthermore, the magnetic properties of Fe6 and Fe18 exhibit antiferromagnetism. This work reports two novel alkali-regulated Fe clusters and further realizes the transformation of nuclearity and structure, which provides some reference for the structural predesign and adjustment of metal nanoclusters.