Structural and Quantum Chemical Study of Bi(5)(3+) and Isoelectronic Main-Group Metal Clusters. The Crystal Structure of Pentabismuth(3+) Tetrachlorogallate(III) Refined from X-ray Powder Diffraction Data and Synthetic Attempts on Its Antimony Analogue.

Pentabismuth(3+) tetrachlorogallate(III), (Bi(5)(3+))(GaCl(4)(-))(3), has been synthesized by reducing a BiCl(3)-GaCl(3) melt with bismuth metal and the crystal structure refined from X-ray (Cu Kalpha(1)) powder diffraction data. The structure was found to belong to space group R-3c, with the lattice parameters a = 11.871(2) Å and c = 30.101(3) Å (Z = 6). It is isostructural with the previously characterized Bi(5)(AlCl(4))(3). An attempt to synthesise the antimony analogue Sb(5)(GaCl(4))(3) by reducing a SbCl(3)-GaCl(3) mixture with gallium metal produced a black solid phase. The gallium content of this phase is consistent with the stoichiometry Sb(5)(GaCl(4))(3), and the Raman spectrum of the phase dissolved in SbCl(3)-GaCl(3) comprises strong, low-frequency bands attributable to Sb-Sb stretch vibrations in Sb(5)(3+) or another reduced antimony species. Quantum chemical analyses have been performed for the isoelectronic, trigonal pyramidal closo-clusters Sn(5)(2-), Sb(5)(3+), Tl(5)(7-), Pb(5)(2-), and Bi(5)(3+), both with extended Hückel (eH) and Hartree-Fock (HF) methods. The HF calculations were performed with and without corrections for the local electron-electron correlation using second-order Møller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2). All theoretical results are compared and evaluted with respect to experimental cluster structures and vibrational frequencies. The results from the calculations agree well with available experimental data for the solid-state structures and vibrational spectra of these cluster ions, except for the Tl(5)(7-) ion. Isolated Tl(5)(7-) is suggested to be electronically unstable because of the high charge density. The Sb(5)(3+) cluster ion is indicated to be stable. According to the calculations, Sn(5)(2-) and Pb(5)(2-) may be described in terms of edge-localized bonds without substantial electron density between the equatorial atoms, whereas Sb(5)(3+) and Bi(5)(3+) have electron density evenly distributed over all M-M vectors. Furthermore, the theoretical results give no support for a D(3h) --> C(4v) fluxionality of these clusters.