NICKEL CARBONYL CLUSTERS IN MOLECULAR-BEAMS - A REINTERPRETATION OF THE RESULTS WHICH GIVES CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE FOR A FACE-CAPPING CLUSTER-GROWTH SEQUENCE

Nickel cluster ions, size selected by quadrupole mass spectrometry, have been reacted with carbon monoxide to yield in the gas phase nickel carbonyl clusters of the type Nin(CO)k+ and NinC(CO)1+, where n ranges from 1 to 13 and k and l vary as a function of cluster size n. Fayet et al. have interpreted these results using EHMO calculations on bare nickel clusters previously reported by Lauher. A reinterpretation of these results in terms of the polyhedral skeletal electron pair theory not only provides a more complete account of the stoichiometries of these clusters but also provides strong circumstantial evidence for a face-capping growth sequence based on a pentagonal bipyramidal Ni7 cluster. © 1990, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.