Borane cluster compounds bonding

Even though qualitative bonding descriptions of metal atom clusters up to six or seven atoms can be derived and in some cases correlated with structural detail, it is clear that most structures observed for higher clusters cannot be treated thus. Nor do the structures observed correlate with those observed for borane derivatives with the same number of vertices. Much of borane chemistry is dominated by the tendency to form structures derived from the icosahedron found in elemental boron. However, elemental transition metals possess either a close-packed or body-centered cubic arrangement. In this connection, one can find the vast majority of metal polyhedra in carbonyl cluster compounds within close-packed geometries, particularly hexagonal close-packing. 

Another very useful rule for classifying the structures of polyboranes and hetero-boranes as well as many metal boron cluster compounds and their derivatives has been developed by Rudolph, Williams, Mingos and Wade (see Chapter 1.1.2) [4]. Today these are generally termed the Wade rules. They can be derived from the structures and electronic requirements of closed polyhedral boranes, such as an octahedron or an icosahedron, which are present in the anions B6H62 and B,2 H, 22. Since there are only exopolyhedral B-H bonds the number of electron... 

In contrast to the polyhedral boranes B H +m there exist a number of neutral boron duster molecules B X (X = Cl, Br, I, NR2, R) all of them having closed deltahedral structures in spite of the fact that the number of bonding electron pairs is only n. For this reason these homonudear cluster compounds of boron are called hypercloso polyboranes. However, there also exist anions of type B X 2 which fit Wade s rules. 

Since polynuclear complexes and cluster compounds are in general rather complicated species, the application of quantitative methods for describing bonding is not only difficult but also impractical. Qualitative approaches and empirical rules often play an important role in treating such cases. We have used the octet rule and bond valence to describe the structure and bonding of boranes and their derivatives (Sections 13.3 and 13.4). Now we use the 18-electron rule and bond valence to discuss the bonding and structure of polynuclear transition-metal complexes and clusters. 

K. Wade, The Structural Significance of the Number of Skeletal Bonding Electron-pairs in Carboranes, the Higher Borane Anions, and Various Transition-metal Carbonyl Cluster Compounds, Chem. Comm. 1971, 792-793. 

There are many examples of borohydride compounds of these metals, e.g., Cu, Ag, Zn and Cd-BH as neutral and anionic complexes in which the mode of bonding of BH is dependent on the coordination number of the metaP. Higher borane anions also combine with Cu and Ag, yielding both neutral and anionic complexes. Although no borohydrides of Au are isolated, treatment of Au-halide complexes with, e.g., NaBH, is a standard method for the preparation of Au-cluster compounds Copper(I) hydride, first reported in 1844, has the ZnS structure [d(Cn-H) = 0.173 nm (1.73 A) d(Cu-Cu) = 0.289 nm (2.89 A)] and decomposes to the elements when heated. At >100°C the decomposition is explosive. 

The boranes, carboranes, and related compounds are also of interest in the field of cluster chemistry, the chemistry of compounds containing metal-metal bonds. The bonding in these compounds will be discussed and compared with the bonding in transition metal cluster compounds in Chapter 15. 

The structures of several carbonyl cluster compounds were shown in Chapter 13. Many carbonyl clusters have stmctures similar to boranes it is therefore of interest to determine to what extent the approach used to describe bonding in boranes may also be applicable to bonding in carbonyl clusters and other clusters. 

Boranes and carboranes have structures in which their skeletal B- or C-atoms form triangular-faced polyhedra. There are basically three structural types, namely the closo- (an euphonious modification of the Greek clovo = cage, i. e., a complete or closed polyhedron), the nido (from Latin nest-like ) and the arachno- (from Greek cob-web ) structure. Each of these three types is adopted by cluster compounds of specific atomic ratios. c/o o-Structures occur in borane dianions B H , in car-borane anions (CB iH ) , and carboranes (C2B 2H ). Each skeletal atom has a single H-atom terminally attached by a bond directed outwards, away from the polyhedron center (see the example of BioHio in Fig. 3-1 below). Wo-Structures are adopted by boranes B H +4 and their related carboranes CB iH +3, C2H 2H +2 etc., and amc/z/2o-structures by boranes B H +6 and related carboranes CB iH +5, C2B 2H +4 etc. In other words, carboranes have the general formula [(CH) (BH) Hc] , where the sum a + c + x) is equal to 2 for a closo-structure, 4 for a /do-structure, and 6 for an amc/z o-structure. 

---