Synthesis, Crystal Structure and Photoluminescence of 1,2-Bis(phenylselenyl)-1,2-dicarba-closo-dodecaborane(12)

The reaction of dithio-o-carborane with diphenyldiselenide (PhSeSePh) affords the title compound, closo-1,2-(PhSe)(2)C2B10H10 (1), which has been characterized by IR and NMR (H-1, B-11) spectroscopy and by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The phenylselenyl groups are bonded to the cage carbon atoms of the o-carborane cluster with a C-cage-C-cage distance of 1.751(6) angstrom and an Se-C-cage-C-cage-Se torsion angle of 10.1(3)degrees. Compound 1 displays a violet emission on excitation with UV light. For comparison the photoluminescence of the known analog closo-1,2-(PhS)(2)C2B10H10 (2) was also studied.