title: Macropolyhedral boron-containing cluster chemistry. A synthetic approach via the auto-fusion of [6,9-(SMe2)2-arachno-B10H12].
abstract: In an attempt to build up borane-based multicluster assemblies, thermolysis of [6,9-(SMe2)2-arachno-B10H12] 1 in inert hydrocarbon solution, followed by chromatographic separation, has resulted in the isolation not only of the previously established single-cluster product from this reaction, [5-(SMe2)-nido-B10H12] 2 (30%), but also the two two-cluster species [6,9-(SMe2)2-arachno-B10H11-1-(6-nido-B10H13)] 3 (20%) and [1,6-(nido-B10H13)2] 6 (ca. 0.5%) and the two three-cluster species [6,9-(SMe2)2-arachno-B10H10-1,5-(6-nido-B10H13)2] 4 (5%), characterized crystallographically, and [6,9-(SMe2)2-arachno-B10H10-1,3-(6-nido-B10H13)2] 5 (<1%), identified by NMR spectroscopy. An improved crystallographic investigation of [5-(SMe2)-nido-B10H12] 2 is also presented. The feasibility of the stability of species resulting from multiple adjacent substitution of nido-decaboranyl units on the [6,9-(SMe2)2-arachno-B10H12] skeleton is tested by DFT calculations. In an extension, to attempt the use of pre--linked two-cluster compounds as starting substrates, two-cluster [5-(SMe2)-4-(2-nido-B10H13)-nido-B10H11] 7 (0.6%) has been isolated from the reaction of SMe2 with [1,5-(nido-B10H13)2], other identified products being compound 1 (39%) and compound 3 (10.5%).
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry of the University of Leeds, Leeds, England, UK LS2 9JT.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bould
authors.forename: Udo
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Dörfler
authors.forename: Nigam P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Rath
authors.forename: Lawrence
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Barton
authors.forename: Colin A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Kilner
authors.forename: Michael G S
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Londesborough
authors.forename: Daniel L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Ormsby
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Kennedy