In recent years several main group 13 and 14 compounds have been utilized in small molecule activation.1 The reactions occur due to strained geometry of the main group metals and favorable matching of the frontier orbitals. However, these reactions have been limited to mainly monomeric or dimeric main group complexes; the properties and reactivity of multinuclear main group metal clusters have been scarcely examined.2 Especially neutral clusters of the form M8Ar4 (M = In or Sn; Ar = C6H3-2,6-Mes2, compound 1 ) exhibit unsubstituted metal atoms which can readily react with small molecules in a similar manner to dimeric ArMMAr-compounds (M = group 13 or 14 metal; Ar = bulky organic ligand, compound 2 ). In this presentation we report the reactions of cluster 1  with small molecules such as H2, NH3 and ethylene to form unprecedented main group systems. 1. a) Peng Y., Ellis, B. D., Wang, X., Fettinger, J. C. and Power, P.P., Science, 2009 , 325, 1668. b) Summerscales, O. T., Fettinger, J. C. and Power, P. P., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2011 , 133, 11960.2. Eichler, B. E. and Power, P. P., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2001  , 40, No. 4, 796.

Small molecule activation under ambient conditions by main group metal clusters

248th National Meeting (2014)

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