Metallic elements, tetrahedral complex formation

Geometrically, the main group element tends to retain a tetrahedral nearest neighbor environment, whereas the transition metal element tends to retain an octahedral environment. As a consequence, transition metal clusters with more than six metal atoms have a tendency toward ligand loss, leading to the formation of condensed clusters (multiple interstitial metal atoms). This leads eventually to close-packed structures that mimic bulk metal structures (see Polynuclear Organometallic Cluster Complexes). On the... 

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