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Th 6 Br 15 H 7 —Stabilization of a Th 6 Br 12 Cluster by Seven Hydrogen Atoms
Author(s) -
Simon Arndt,
Böttcher Fred,
Cockcroft Jeremy Karl
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition in english
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 0570-0833
DOI - 10.1002/anie.199101011
Subject(s) - octahedron , crystallography , cluster (spacecraft) , neutron diffraction , metal , electron , chemistry , electron counting , hydrogen bond , materials science , molecule , crystal structure , physics , nuclear physics , organic chemistry , computer science , programming language
Vertices, edges, and faces —in other words, the whole periphery of the Th 6 octahedron in the title compound—are covered with Br and H atoms. The structure is novel in that the H atoms are not bonded interstitially but rather from “outside” to the cluster core, as shown by neutron diffraction of the perdeuterated compound (see the picture on the right; ). If the metal–metal bonds in the cluster are described qualitatively by eight closed three‐center two‐electron bonds directed toward the middle of the faces of the octahedron, it is clearly seen that seven of these bonds are stabilized by the additional electrons of the H atoms at the centers of the faces.