A Giant Dy76 Cluster: A Fused Bi-Nanopillar Structural Model for Lanthanide Clusters

Although great achievements have been made in the synthesis of giant lanthanide clusters, novel structural models are still scarce. Herein, we report a giant lanthanide cluster Dy-76, constructed from [Dy-3(mu(3)-OH)(4)] and [Dy-5(mu(4)-O)(mu(3)-OH)(8)] building blocks. As the largest known Dy cluster, the structure of Dy-76 can be seen as arising from the fusion of two Dy-48 clusters; these clusters can be isolated under various synthetic conditions and were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. This new, fused structural model of the pillar motif has not been found in Ln clusters. Furthermore, the successful conversion of Dy-76 back into Dy-48 in a retrosynthetic manner supports the proposed fusion formation mechanism of Dy-76. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) analysis suggests that the metal cluster skeleton of Dy-76 shows good stability in various solvents. This work not only reveals a new structural type of Ln clusters but also provides insight into the novel fusion assembly process.