Formation of the quasi-planar B50 boron cluster: topological path from B10 and disk aromaticity

The lowest-lying isomer of the B50 boron cluster is confirmed to have a quasi-planar shape with two hexagonal holes. By applying a topological (leap-frog) dual operation followed by boron capping, we demonstrated that such a quasi-planar structure actually comes from the smallest elongated B102-, and its high thermodynamic stability is due to its inherent disk aromaticity arising from its 32 valent π electrons that fully occupy a disk configuration of [(1σ)2(1π)4(1δ)4(2σ)2(1φ)4(2π)4(1γ)4(2δ)4(1η)4]. The aromatic character of the quasi-planar B50 is further supported by a strong diatropic magnetic current flow. The sudden appearance of a quasi-planar B50 again points out that the growth pattern of pure boron clusters is still far from being completely understood.

Jaar van publicatie:2019

BOF-keylabel:ja

IOF-keylabel:ja

BOF-publication weight:2

CSS-citation score:1

Auteurs:International

Authors from:Higher Education

Toegankelijkheid:Open