PNNL

Abstract

Photoelectron spectroscopy and theoretical calculations show that Pb122- is a highly stable icosahedral cage cluster, similar to Sn122-. It is bonded by four delocalized radial bonds and nine delocalized on-sphere bonds from the 6p orbitals of the Pb atoms. Following Sn122- (stannaspherene), we coin a name, plumbaspherene, for the highly stable and nearly spherical Pb122- cluster, which has a diameter of ~6.3 Å with an empty interior volume large enough to host most transition metal atoms and afford a new class of stable endohedral plumbaspherenes similar to the endohedral fullerenes.