Icosahedral Building Blocks: Towards Dendrimers with Twelve Primary Branches?
A convergent point for cluster and supramolecular chemists is provided by the isolation of the per-B-hydroxylated, icosahedral clusters [B(12)(OH)(12)](2-) (shown schematically), [1-H-1-CB(11)(OH)(11)](-), and 1,12-H(2)-1,12-C(2)B(10)(OH)(10) by Hawthorne et al. But will these multifunctionalized clusters, which contain rigid cores and which can be supplied with "arms" in sterically favorable directions, be suitable building blocks for dendrimers?
Housecroft
CE
Institut für Anorganische Chemie der Universität, Spitalstrasse 51, CH-4056 Basel (Switzerland).