Metallocarbohedrenes

(Met-Cars)

Several years ago in our laboratory, we discovered a novel class of molecular clusters named metallo-carbohedrenes, or Met-Cars for short.  This unique class of stable clusters are comprised of early transition metals bound to carbon in several unique stoichiometries corresponding to single cage-like structures as well as multiple cage-structures. The single cage Met-Car has a M₈C₁₂ composition where M represents one of the transition metals, Ti, Zr, Hf, V, Mb, Cr, and Mo.  In addition to forming single metal Met-Car clusters, binary systems are possible and have proved beneficial in elucidating electronic structure.  Experiments have also shown that the Met-Car cluster exhibits a low ionization potential and undergoes delayed ionization.  Moreover, experiments probing electron excitation/ relaxation dynamics support such free electron behavior and thus provides the basis for this system potentially being a future model for tailoring the design of nanoscale materials.