Methanolysis as a route to gallium(III) clusters: Synthesis and structural characterization of a decanuclear molecular wheel

Treatment of a methanolic solution of gallium( III) nitrate with lithium hydroxide in the presence of benzilic acid resulted in the decanuclear cluster [ Ga( OMe)(2) {O2CC( OH) Ph-2}](10) ( 1). The metal and the organic components have assembled to form a cyclic molecule that adopts the structure of a wheel. The 10 Ga-III ions are approximately coplanar and are coordinated in a distorted octahedral manner by six oxygen atoms. The integrity of the molecular wheel is retained in solution, as evidenced by the (NMR)-N-1 spectrum of 1 in DMSO-d(6), while no signal in the Ga-71 NMR could be detected.