The cuboctahedron consists of copper paddle-wheel nodes and carborane–isophthalic acids
Scientists in the US have made a molecular species containing the highest number of boron atoms ever recorded in a crystallographically characterised molecular species. The unique supramolecular cuboctahedron contains 240 boron atoms and was synthesised by Chad Mirkin and colleagues at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, via coordination-driven assembly.
The previous record for the most boron atoms in a single molecular species was a heptanuclear silver aggregate reported by Lars Wesemann in 2010, but this species only contained 88 boron atoms.
Boron-rich nanostructures form the basis of high-energy materials, nanoelectronic materials and boron neutron capture therapy agents. It is therefore surprising that, in comparison to the myriad of methods for making carbon-rich nanostrucutres, there are relatively few strategies for making boron-rich ones. Mirkin’s team are now pursuing the synthesis of other boron-rich supramolecular assemblies.
This article was originally published in Chemistry World
You can also read the original journal article in ChemComm:
An exceptionally high boron content supramolecular cuboctahedron
Daniel J. Clingerman, Robert D. Kennedy, Joseph E. Mondloch, Amy A. Sarjeant, Joseph T. Hupp, Omar K. Farha and Chad A. Mirkin
Chem. Commun., 2013, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C3CC44173C, Communication
