Contents

Ligand-Gated Orthogonal Probe Mapping of Site Accessibility in Nickel–Gallium Superatom Cluster Ensembles

Jiacheng Fang1, Ray H. Baughman2, Song-Zhi Liu1
1Department of Material Functions and design, Nagoya Institute of technology, Gokiso-Cho Showa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, 466-8555 Japan
2NanoTech Institute, University of Texas at Dallas, 800 West Campbell road, Richardson, TX75080, 75080 USA
Jiacheng Fang
Department of Material Functions and design, Nagoya Institute of technology, Gokiso-Cho Showa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, 466-8555 Japan
Ray H. Baughman
NanoTech Institute, University of Texas at Dallas, 800 West Campbell road, Richardson, TX75080, 75080 USA
Song-Zhi Liu
Department of Material Functions and design, Nagoya Institute of technology, Gokiso-Cho Showa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi, 466-8555 Japan

Abstract

Nickel–gallium intermetalloid superatom clusters offer models of precise elemental atomic arrangements in composition-dependent mixed-metal assemblies; however, their interpretation becomes challenging in the case where several isobaric species are present within a single ligand-protected complex. In this work, the ligand-gated orthogonal probe mapping (LGOPM) strategy is applied to the series of intermetalloid clusters \(\mathrm{Ni}_{6+x}\mathrm{Ga}_{6+y}(\mathrm{Cp}^{\ast})_6\) with \(x+y\leq2\). The analysis utilizes the invariant \((\mathrm{NiCp}^{\ast})_6\) cage as a starting point with two independently defined probes, used to discriminate between accessible and protected inner-shell atoms. The main objective of this study is to determine whether it is possible to translate a mixture of isobaric Ni–Ga clusters into a resolution in terms of nickel and gallium site accessibility. The answer to this question is positive since carbon monoxide reaction allows one to select nickel-accessible compositions while the application of triisopropylsilyl acetylene photodissociation leads to isolation of the gallium derivatizable cluster. Thus, in the descriptor matrix, the \(\mathrm{Ni}_6\mathrm{Ga}_6\) and \(\mathrm{Ni}_6\mathrm{Ga}_7\) clusters belong to the group of cage-protected molecules; the \(\mathrm{Ni}_7\mathrm{Ga}_6\) and \(\mathrm{Ni}_7\mathrm{Ga}_7\) clusters belong to the class responding to carbon monoxide treatment while the \(\mathrm{Ni}_8\mathrm{Ga}_6\) cluster represents the photochemical gallium-labile molecule. Interpretations follow the major equations, figures, and tables, connecting indices, masses, spectroscopic, magnetism, and probe parameters with chemical phenomena.

Keywords: nickel–gallium clusters, intermetalloid materials, superatom complexes, ligand-shell gating, site accessibility, carbon monoxide, alkynyl derivatization, LIFDI mass spectrometry
Copyright © 2024 Jiacheng Fang, Ray H. Baughman, Song-Zhi Liu. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.