Discrete magnesium hydride aggregates: a cationic Mg13H18 cluster stabilized by NNNN-type macrocycles.

Large magnesium hydride aggregates [Mg13 (Me3 TACD)6 (μ2 -H12 )(μ3 -H6 )][A]2 ((Me3 TACD)H=1,4,7-trimethyl-1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane; A=AlEt4 , AlnBu4 , B{3,5-(CF3 )2 C6 H3 }4 ) were synthesized stepwise from alkyl complexes [Mg2 (Me3 TACD)R3 ] (R=Et, nBu) and phenylsilane in the presence of additional Mg(II) ions. The central magnesium atom is octahedrally coordinated by six hydrides as in solid α-MgH2 of the rutile type. Further coordination to six magnesium atoms leads to a substructure of seven edge-sharing octahedra as found in the hexagonal layer of brucite (Mg(OH)2 ). Upon protonolysis in the presence of 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME), this cluster was degraded into a tetranuclear dication [Mg2 (Me3 TACD)(μ-H)2 (DME)]2 [A]2 .
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