On the aromaticity of square planar Ga4(2-) and In4(2-) in gaseous NaGa4- and NaIn4- clusters

A E Kuznetsov; A I Boldyrev; X Li; L S Wang

doi:10.1021/ja0106117

On the aromaticity of square planar Ga4(2-) and In4(2-) in gaseous NaGa4- and NaIn4- clusters

J Am Chem Soc. 2001 Sep 12;123(36):8825-31. doi: 10.1021/ja0106117.

Authors

A E Kuznetsov¹, A I Boldyrev, X Li, L S Wang

Affiliation

¹ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Utah State University, Logan, Utah 84322, USA.

PMID: 11535089
DOI: 10.1021/ja0106117

Abstract

We investigated the electronic structure and chemical bonding of two bimetallic clusters NaGa4- and NaIn4-. Photoelectron spectra of the anions were obtained and compared with ab initio calculations. We found that the ground state of the two anions contains a square planar dianion interacting with a Na+ cation. The Ga4(2-) and In4(2-) dianions both possess two delocalized pi electrons and are considered to be aromatic, similar to that recently found in Al4(2-). Using calculations for a model compound, we showed that a recently synthesized Ga4-organometallic compound also contains an aromatic -Ga4(2-)- unit, analogous to the gaseous clusters.