Stabilizing a metalloid {Zn12} unit within a polymetallide environment in [K2Zn20Bi16]6−

Abstract

Low-valent zinc clusters, though exceedingly rare, are appealing synthetic targets because there is evidence that they may show unconventional chemical and physical behavior. Here, the authors obtain a large heterometallic zinc-bismuth cluster anion and discover that it bears a metalloid {Zn12} core with four-center bonding and essentially zero-valent character.