Evidence for d-orbital aromaticity in Sn- and Pb-based clusters: is Sn12(2-) aromatic?
The electronic structures and stabilities of pure M(12)- and M(12)(2-) were systematically investigated within density functional theory. The nucleus-independent chemical shifts (NICSs) of I(h) Sn(12)(2-) and Pb(12)(2-) are -5.0 and -20.7 ppm, respectively, based on B3LYP/aug-cc-pVDZ-PP predictions, whereas the NICS of Sn(12)(2-) is predicted to be 1.1 ppm by B3LYP/LanL2DZ. A startling conclusion is that the NICS4d of Sn(12)(2-) and NICS(5d) of Pb(12)(2-) are -5.0 and -7.5 ppm, respectively, suggesting the significant contribution of the inner d orbitals to the total NICS values. This provides the first quantitative evidence for the existence of "d-orbital aromaticity" in Sn- and Pb-based clusters with three-dimensional structures. The d orbitals also contribute to the total NICSs of the K-coordinated clusters. The NICS predictions suggest that larger basis sets including d-orbitals are needed to analyze the aromaticity of some main-group-metal-based clusters (e.g., Sn- and Pb-based clusters) to obtain accurate predictions.
State Key Laboratory of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry, Institute of Theoretical Chemistry, and College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun 130023, China.
De-Li
DL
Chen
Wei Quan
WQ
Tian
Ji-Kang
JK
Feng
Chia-Chung
CC
Sun