title: Icosahedral gold cage clusters: M@Au12- (M=V, Nb, and Ta).
abstract: We report the observation and characterization of a series of stable bimetallic 18-valence-electron clusters containing a highly symmetric 12-atom icosahedral Au cage with an encapsulated central heteroatom of Group VB transition metals, M@Au(12) (-) (M=V,Nb,Ta). Electronic and structural properties of these clusters were probed by anion photoelectron spectroscopy and theoretical calculations. Characteristics of the M@Au(12) (-) species include their remarkably high binding energies and relatively simple spectral features, which reflect their high symmetry and stability. The adiabatic electronic binding energies of M@Au(12) (-) were measured to be 3.70+/-0.03, 3.77+/-0.03, and 3.76+/-0.03 eV for M=V, Nb, and Ta, respectively. Comparison of density-functional calculations with experimental data established the highly symmetric icosahedral structures for the 18-electron cluster anions, which may be promising building blocks for cluster-assembled nanomaterials in the form of stoichiometric [M@Au(12) (-)]X(+) salts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Washington State University, Richland, WA 99352, USA.
authors.forename: Hua-Jin
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Zhai
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Lai-Sheng
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Wang