Abstract
Zinc-zinc bonds are rare in chemistry. So are linear four-metal compounds. Nevertheless, Trevor D. Lohrey, a member of John Arnold’s group at the University of California, Berkeley, has made the first molecule with a Re-Zn-Zn-Re core (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2018, DOI: 10.1021/jacs.8b12494). Lohrey used a rhenium(I) salt to reduce ZnCl2 and make a zinc cation to which anionic rhenium compounds coordinated. Arnold says he and UC Berkeley collaborator Robert G. Bergman were shocked when they saw the molecule’s zinc dimer flanked by two other metals. The researchers determined that the Re-Zn interactions are dative, with rhenium donating a pair of electrons to an unoccupied zinc orbital. A crystal structure shows the four metal atoms are arranged in a nearly straight line. While Arnold describes the work as a “very fundamental investigation,” Lohrey says they are exploring how the rhenium reductant used in the synthesis behaves with various metals to
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.