The five-membered heteroelement cluster THF·Cl2In(OtBu)3Sn reacts with the sodium stannate [Na(OtBu)3Sn]2 to produce either the new oxo-centered alkoxo cluster ClInO[Sn(OtBu)2]3 (1) (in low yield) or the heteroleptic alkoxo cluster Sn(OtBu)3InCl3Na[Sn(OtBu)2]2 (2). X-ray diffraction analyses reveal that in compound 1 the polycyclic entity is made of three tin atoms which together with a central oxygen atom form a trigonal, almost planar triangle, perpendicular to which a further indium atom is connected through the oxygen atom. The metal atoms thus are arranged in a Sn3In pyramid, the edges of which are all saturated by bridging tert-butoxy groups. The indium atom has a further chloride ligand. Compound 2 has two trigonal bipyramids as building blocks which are fused together at a six coordinate indium atom. One of the bipyramids is of the type SnO3In with tert-butyl groups on the oxygen atoms, while the other has the composition InCl3Na with chlorine atoms connecting the two metals. The sodium atom in 2 has further contacts to two plus one alkoxide groups which are part of a[Sn(OtBu)2]2 dimer disposing of a Sn2O2 central cycle. The hetero element cluster in 2 thus combines three closed entities and its skeleton SnO3InCl3NaO2Sn2O2 consists of three different metallic and two different non-metallic elements.
Zeitschrift Für Anorganische Und Allgemeine Chemie , 2012, 638 (10), 1482-1485.