Bistrimethylsilylamide Transition-Metal Complexes as Starting Reagents in the Synthesis of Ternary Cd-Mn-Se Cluster Complexes

The use of bis-trimethylsilylamide transition-metal complexes soluble in organic solvents offers new perspectives for the synthesis of metal chalcogenide cluster molecules, especially for multicomponent clusters. This is illustrated by the synthesis of the mixed cadmium-manganese chalcogenide clusters [Cd4Mn6Se4(Selph)(12)((PPr3)-Pr-n)(4)] and [Cd4Mn4S(SePh)(14)((PPr3)-Pr-n)(2)] as reported here. These cluster molecules display interesting properties, such as a photoluminescence in the red to near-infrared spectral region, which is particularly bright at temperatures below similar to 100 K, and an antiferromagnetic coupling between the manganese(II) ions. Electrospray Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectra from the chemically charged clusters in solution show several ionic cluster species which indicate a fast Cd/Mn exchange in solution. Furthermore, single crystal X-ray analysis and magnetic measurements supported by density functional theory calculations suggest a cocrystallization of structural isomers of the ideal cluster composition [Cd4Mn4S(SePh)(14)((PPr3)-Pr-n)(2)] as well as of species with the general formula [Cd4-xMn4-xS(SePh)(14)((PPr3)-Pr-n)(2)] (x < 0 Mn enrichment; x> 0 Cd enrichment) without a significant decrease in the stability. Thermal cleavage of [Cd4Mn6Se4(Selph)(12)((PPr3)-Pr-n)(4)] results, in agreement with the CdSe/MnSe phase diagram, in the formation of a mixture of a hexagonal phase Cd1-xMnxSe (x approximate to 0.5) and a cubic phase Mn1-xCdxSe (x < 0.05).