- Award ID(s):
- 2053541
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10319799
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Annual Review of Physical Chemistry
- Volume:
- 73
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 0066-426X
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Because of their interesting structures and bonding and potentials as motifs for new nanomaterials, size-selected boron clusters have received tremendous interest in recent years. In particular, boron cluster anions (B n − ) have allowed systematic joint photoelectron spectroscopy and theoretical studies, revealing predominantly two-dimensional structures. The discovery of the planar B 36 cluster with a central hexagonal vacancy provided the first experimental evidence of the viability of 2D borons, giving rise to the concept of borophene. The finding of the B 40 cage cluster unveiled the existence of fullerene-like boron clusters (borospherenes). Metal-doping can significantly extend the structural and bonding repertoire of boron clusters. Main-group metals interact with boron through s/p orbitals, resulting in either half-sandwich-type structures or substitutional structures. Transition metals are more versatile in bonding with boron, forming a variety of structures including half-sandwich structures, metal-centered boron rings, and metal-centered boron drums. Transition metal atoms have also been found to be able to be doped into the plane of 2D boron clusters, suggesting the possibility of metalloborophenes. Early studies of di-metal-doped boron clusters focused on gold, revealing ladder-like boron structures with terminal gold atoms. Recent observations of highly symmetric Ta 2 B 6 − and Ln 2 B n − ( n = 7–9) clusters have established a family of inverse sandwich structures with monocyclic boron rings stabilized by two metal atoms. The study of size-selected boron and doped-boron clusters is a burgeoning field of research. Further investigations will continue to reveal more interesting structures and novel chemical bonding, paving the foundation for new boron-based chemical compounds and nanomaterials.more » « less
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Abstract Multiple bonds between boron and transition metals are known in many borylene (:BR) complexes via metal dπ→BR back‐donation, despite the electron deficiency of boron. An electron‐precise metal–boron triple bond was first observed in BiB2O−[Bi≡B−B≡O]−in which both boron atoms can be viewed as sp‐hybridized and the [B−BO]−fragment is isoelectronic to a carbyne (CR). To search for the first electron‐precise transition‐metal‐boron triple‐bond species, we have produced IrB2O−and ReB2O−and investigated them by photoelectron spectroscopy and quantum‐chemical calculations. The results allow to elucidate the structures and bonding in the two clusters. We find IrB2O−has a closed‐shell bent structure (
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Abstract Multiple bonds between boron and transition metals are known in many borylene (:BR) complexes via metal dπ→BR back‐donation, despite the electron deficiency of boron. An electron‐precise metal–boron triple bond was first observed in BiB2O−[Bi≡B−B≡O]−in which both boron atoms can be viewed as sp‐hybridized and the [B−BO]−fragment is isoelectronic to a carbyne (CR). To search for the first electron‐precise transition‐metal‐boron triple‐bond species, we have produced IrB2O−and ReB2O−and investigated them by photoelectron spectroscopy and quantum‐chemical calculations. The results allow to elucidate the structures and bonding in the two clusters. We find IrB2O−has a closed‐shell bent structure (
Cs ,1A ′) with BO−coordinated to an Ir≡B unit, (−OB)Ir≡B, whereas ReB2O−is linear (C ∞v ,3Σ−) with an electron‐precise Re≡B triple bond, [Re≡B−B≡O]−. The results suggest the intriguing possibility of synthesizing compounds with electron‐precise M≡B triple bonds analogous to classical carbyne systems. -
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