In the wake of the first experimentally isolated all-metal sandwich complex last year,1 two independent groups from China have put forward their theoretical take on this inorganic rarity.2,3
Researchers analysed the molecular orbitals holding the unusual all-metal sandwich complex together
Sandwich complexes are a class of inorganic compounds, typified by ferrocene. They feature a metal ion sandwiched between two aromatic ligands, which are bound to the central metal through haptic covalent bonds. Structurally similar species to ferrocene, with different metals or coordinating ligands, are generally termed metallocenes.
Interested in reading further? The full article can be read in Chemistry World.
The original articles can be read below and are free to access until 21st June 2016
On the nature of chemical bonding in the all-metal aromatic [Sb3Au3Sb3]3− sandwich complex
Xue-Rui You, Wen-Juan Tian, Da-Zhi Li,* Ying-Jin Wang, Rui Li, Lin-Yan Feng and Hua-Jin Zhai*
Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2016, 18, 13423-13431
DOI: 10.1039/C6CP00101G
Theoretical studies on the bonding and electron structures of a [Au3Sb6]3− complex and its oligomers
Wan-Lu Li, Cong-Qiao Xu, Shu-Xian Hu and Jun Li*
Dalton Trans., 2016, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C6DT00602G
