Polyhedral boron-containing cluster chemistry: Aspects of architecture beyond the icosahedron

Shea, Suzanne L.; Bould, Jonathan; Londesborough, Michael G. S.; Perera, Sarath D.; Franken, Andreas; Ormsby, Daniel L.; Jelínek, Tomás; Stíbr, Bohumil; Holub, Josef; Kilner, Colin A.; Thornton-Pett, Mark; Kennedy, John D.

doi:10.1351/pac200375091239

Pure Appl. Chem., 2003, Vol. 75, No. 9, pp. 1239-1248

http://dx.doi.org/10.1351/pac200375091239

Polyhedral boron-containing cluster chemistry: Aspects of architecture beyond the icosahedron

Suzanne L. Shea¹, Jonathan Bould¹, Michael G. S. Londesborough¹, Sarath D. Perera^1,2, Andreas Franken¹, Daniel L. Ormsby¹, Tomás Jelínek^1,3, Bohumil Stíbr³, Josef Holub^1,3, Colin A. Kilner¹, Mark Thornton-Pett¹ and John D. Kennedy¹

¹ Department of Chemistry, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
² Department of Chemistry, Open University, Nawala, Nugegoda, Sri Lanka
³ Institute of Inorganic Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, 25068 Rez-by-Prague, Czech Republic

Abstract: For the structural extent of the polyhedral molecular chemistry of boron to rival that of the organic chemistry of the carbon hydrides, (a) the individual boron-containing polyhedra need to be fused together to make larger contiguous covalent assemblies, and (b) an intermolecular chemistry needs to be developed. Contemporary examples are given that illustrate novel chemistry in both these areas and that may point the way to some future developments.