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Canadian Chemists Make Molecular Bracelet
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Dr. Roland Pomeroy and Weng Kee Leong of Simon Fraser University (Burnaby, BC) have made a new compound with an unprecedented ring of twelve metal atoms. The almost planar ring looks like a bracelet with charms dangling from it. The ring contains six osmium (Os) atoms alternating with six tin (Sn) atoms. Coordinated to each tin atom are two phenyl groups while the osmium atoms are each bonded to four carbonyl groups. A phenyl group is a planar ring of six carbon atoms (C6H5) that has alternating single and double carbon-carbon bonds. Five of the carbons are bonded to hydrogens while the remaining carbon is attached to the tin atom. A carbonyl group (CO) is better known as carbon monoxide that contains a carbon-oxygen triple bond. The group is coordinated to the osmium atom through the carbon. The structure of the compound was determined by crystallographers at Simon Fraser University and Siemens Analytical X-Ray Systems in Madison, Wisconsin.
Dr. Pomeroy is a chemistry professor who studies organometallic chemistry. More specifically, he is interested in the preparation of new metal cluster compounds and the study of their physical and chemical properties. An organometallic chemist studies metal compounds containing organic components bonded to metal atoms. The discovery of this molecule is important because it raises the possibility of creating other rings or polymers with osmium-tin chains.
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