Water-Soluble Pentagonal-Prismatic Titanium-Oxo Clusters

By using solubility control to crystallize the prenucleation clusters of hydrosol, a family of titanium-oxo clusters possessing the {Ti18O27} core in which the 18 Ti(IV)-ions are uniquely connected with mu-oxo ligands into a triple-decked pentagonal prism was obtained. The cluster cores are wrapped by external sulfate and aqua ligands, showing good solubilities and stabilities in a variety of solvents including acetonitrile and water and allowing their solution chemistry being studied by means of electrospray ionization mass spectroscopy, O-17 NMR, and vibrational spectroscopy. Furthermore, this study provides new titanium oxide candidates for surface modifications and homogeneous photocatalysis.