Isomerization of PdAu8(PPh3)8~(2+) in the gas phase

摘要

Gold clusters protected by ligands can be viewed as superatoms since their electronic orbitals look similar in shape to those of conventional atoms. Isomerization or deformation is one of the specific features of superatoms. For example, the crown-shaped cores of [PdAu8(PPh3)8]~(2+) (Fig. 1) and [Au9(PPh3)8]~(3+) can be viewed as oblate superatoms whose electron configuration is described as (1S)~2(1Px)~2(1Py)~2(1Pz)~0 [1-3].