Discrete palladium clusters that consist of two mutually bisecting perpendicular planes

The construction of novel molecules with unprecedented alignments of the constituent elements has revolutionized the field of functional materials. The arrangement of two or more planar subunits in a mutually perpendicular fashion is a frequently encountered approach to produce novel functional materials. Previous examples of such materials can be categorized into two well-investigated families: spiro-conjugated and dumbbell-shaped structures, wherein the two planes are aligned orthogonally via a single atom or an axis, respectively. This article describes a third family: reaction of [Pd(CN(t)Bu)(2)](3) with Sn(3)Me(8) or Ge(6)Me(12) afforded a Pd(7)Sn(4) cluster and a Pd(8)Ge(6) cluster that consist of two mutually bisecting perpendicular planes. In the Pd(7)Sn(4) cluster, the two equivalent Pd(5)Sn(2) planes share three palladium atoms that include a dihedral angle of 85.6°.