New Sulfur‐ and Selenium‐Bridged Copper Clusters; Ab Initio Calculations on [Cu_2<i>n</i>Se_<i>n</i>(PH₃)_<i>m</i>] Clusters

Abstract

The synthesis of new, medium‐sized copper clusters with unusual structures and a successful combination of experiment and theoretical calculation—this is offered by the present communication. The reaction of CuAc with PR 2 R′ (R, R′  Et, Ph) and E(SiMe 3 ) 2 (E  S, Se) leads to the clusters 1–4 . Several of these might be intermediates in the synthesis of larger cluster complexes. The structure of [Cu 12 Se 6 (PH 3 ) 8 ] calculated by ab initio methods agrees with the structure of 1 within the limits of the methods. equation image