Can an Electron-Shell Closing Model Explain the Structure and Stability of Ligand-Stabilized Metal Clusters?

Abstract

We investigated the structure and stability of several aluminum hydride complexes to understand the essence of "superatom chemistry" and to gain a right perspective on the ligand (L)-stabilized metal (M) clusters. We successfully interpret the structure and stability using molecular orbital analysis, which clearly shows the failure of an electron-shell closing model (or a superatom model) to explain it. The structure and stability of Al(m)H(n) are closely associated with the molecular orbital stabilization owing to the effective orbital overlap between Al(m) (M(m)) and nH (nL). The importance of retaining the electronic structural integrity of M(m) in M(m)L(n)-within an electron-shell closing model-has been underestimated or even disregarded, and this has created the current controversies in the scientific community.