Ga10[Si(SiMe3)3]6, [Ga10(SitBu3)6]-, and [Ga13(SitBu3)6]- -: Syntheses and structural characterization of novel gallium cluster compounds

The novel neutral and anionic gallium clusters Ga10R'(6) and [Ca10R*(6)](-) as well as [Ga13R*(6)](-) are obtained by reaction of "GaI", prepared sonochemically from gallium and iodine, with Li(THF)(3)R' (R' = Si(SiMe3)B = hypersilyl) and Na(THF)(2)R* (R* = SitBu(3) = supersilyl), respectively. Both of the Gale clusters may be considered as conjuncto clusters consisting of two edge-sharing octahedrons. In Ga10R'(6), these contain a Ga4R'(4) and a Ga2R'(2) unit, and in [Ga10R*(6)](-), they contain two Ga3R*(3) units. In addition to the syntheses and X-ray structure analyses of these three clusters, some hypersilylgallium halides are described, namely the [Li(THF)(2)](+) and [Li(THF)(3)](+) salts of [R'GaI3](-) as well as the [Li(THF)(2)](+) salts of [R'2Ga2Br4](2-) and [R'2Ga2I4](2-).