The occurrence of planar hexacoordination is very rare in cluster chemistry, particularly for main group elements. We report here a class of planar hexacoordinate silicon (phSi) in the global minimum isomer of SiE3M3+ (E = N, P, As, Sb; M = Ca, Sr, Ba). Three Si-E multiple bonds between phSi and E centers is a key structural and electronic prerequisite for the observation of their prefect planarity and high stability. Especially, the electrostatic interactions between phSi and three M centers become less repulsive with decrease in electronegativity of E. Eventually, a sizable electrostatic attractive interaction exists in between phSi and M centers in SiSb3M3+, leading to a true unprecedented phSi bonding motif which features three Si-Sb multiple bonds and three Si-M ionic bonds.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2111.04275,
title = {Planar Hexacoordinate Silicon},
author = {Chen Chen and Meng-hui Wang and Sudip Pan and Zhong-hua Cui},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2111.04275},
year = {2021}
}