Unraveling the Intertwining Factors Underlying the Assembly of High‐Nuclearity Heterometallic Clusters
Na Xu, Wanmin Chen, Jun Miao, You‐Song Ding, Zhiping Zheng
Abstract
Abstract Two closely related yet distinctly different cationic clusters, [Dy 52 Ni 44 (HEIDA) 36 (OH) 138 (OAc) 24 (H 2 O) 30 ] 10+ ( 1 ) and [Dy 112 Ni 76 (HEIDA) 44 (EIDA) 24 (IDA) 4 (OH) 268 (OAc) 48 (H 2 O) 44 ] 4+ ( 2 ) (HEIDA= N ‐(2‐ h ydroxyethyl)iminodiacetate), each featuring a multi‐shell core of Platonic and Archimedean polyhedra, were obtained. Depending on the specific conditions used for the co‐hydrolysis of Dy 3+ and Ni 2+ , the product can be crystallized out as one particular type of cluster or as a mixture of 1 and 2 . How the reaction process was affected by the amount of hydrolysis‐facilitating base and/or by the reaction temperature and duration was investigated. It has been found that a reaction at a high temperature and/or for an extended period favors the formation of the compact and thermodynamically more stable 1 , while a brief reaction with a large amount of the base is good for the kinetic product 2 . By tuning these intertwining conditions, the reaction can be regulated toward a particular product.