A Gigantic Molecular Wheel of {Gd140}: A New Member of the Molecular Wheel Family

Nanoscale inorganic wheel-shaped structures are one of the most striking types of molecular aggregations. Here, we report the synthesis of a gigantic lanthanide wheel cluster containing 140 Gd3+ atoms. As the largest lanthanide cluster reported thus far, {Gd-140} features an attractive wheel-like structure with 10-fold: symmetry. The nanoscopic molecular wheel possesses the largest diameter of 6.0 nm and displays high stability in solution, Which allows direct visualization by scanning transmission electron microscopy. The newly discovered lanthanide {Gd-140} cluster represents a new member of the molecular wheel family.