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Influence of the metal core composition and geometry on the structure, spectroscopic properties and redox potentials was investigated for the first time for heterometallic (Re/Mo)6 octahedral clusters. The discrete anionic clusters [Re6-x Mox Se8 (CN)6 ]n- (x=2, 3; n=4, 5) were obtained as individual salts. Their isomeric composition and bond-length distribution were inspected using a combination of single-crystal X-ray structure analysis, NMR, EXAFS, and DFT calculations.

International audience; A number of transition metal cluster compounds can be obtained only in the melt of inorganic cyanides and, therefore, contain terminal cyanide ligands. Substitution of these ligands, which is often necessary to change the physicochemical properties of the clusters, is an urgent problem because of their low reactivity in substitution reactions. In this work, a synthetic approach has been developed for the substitution of CN-ligands in the heterometallic cluster anions [Re(3)Mo(3)Q(8)(CN)(6)](n-) (Q = S, n = 6; Q = Se, n = 5) by the 4-tert-butylpyridine (TBP) molecules. Two new compounds, namely [Re3Mo3S8(TBP)(6)] (1) and [Re3Mo3Se8(TBP)(6)] (2), were obtained with high yields and crystallized under solvothermal conditions. It has been shown that compounds 1 and 2 are based on the paramagnetic cluster cores {Re(3)Mo(3)Q(8)}(0) containing 23 cluster valence electrons (CVE). The geometry of the new compounds has been investigated using X-ray structural analysis. The electronic structure has been analyzed using the DFT calculations showing large distortion of M-6 cluster core.

Monolayers of molybdenum disulfide MoS2 are considered to be prospective materials for nanoelectronics and various catalytic processes. Since in certain conditions they undergo 1T ↔ 2H phase transitions, studying these phase changes is an urgent task. We present a DFT research of these transitions to show that they can proceed as a solid-state reaction. Two transition states were discovered with energy barriers 1.03 and 1.40 eV. Sulfur atoms in the transition states are shown to be displaced relative to molybdenum atoms so that a tendency of one structural modification to transform into the other modification is seen. This kind of displacements agrees with electron microscopy data reported earlier. The energy parameters indicate that 1T → 2H reactions are exothermic for both transition states and can possibly proceed in a self-sustained manner when initially activated by some external energy impact.

Monolayered titanium disulfide TiS2, a prospective nanoelectronic material, was previously shown to be subject to an exothermic solid-state D3h -D3d reaction that proceeds via a newly discovered transition state. Here, we study the reaction in detail using topological methods of quantum chemistry (quantum theory of atoms in molecules and electron localization function analysis) and show how electron density and chemical bonding between the atoms change in the course of the reaction. The reaction is shown to undergo a series of topological catastrophes, associated with elementary chemical events such as break and formation of bonds (including the unexpected formation of S-S bonding between sulfur layers), and rearrangement of electron density of outer valence and core shells.