Theoretical study of V20O50 oxovanadate cluster compounds with alkali metal atoms

The energies and structural and spectroscopic characteristics of model М _n V₂₀O₅₀ systems corresponding to compounds of the V₂₀O₅₀ oxovanadate cluster with alkali metal atoms (M = Li, K; n = 1–20) have been calculated by the density functional theory method (B3LYP). It has been demonstrated that, in the K _n V₂₀O₅₀ compounds, all the metal atoms are coordinated in the outer sphere to the edges of the hollow dodecahedral V₂₀O₅₀ cage to form three-center O_t?K?O_t bridges with terminal oxygen atoms. In the Li _n V₂₀O₅₀ compounds, the metal atoms can be coordinated both outside and inside the V₂₀O₅₀ cage. At n = 4, the most favorable isomer is endohedral Li₄O₄@V₂₀O₄₆ in the quintet state (S = 5), in which the four Li atoms are located in the inner cavity of the inverted O₄@V₂₀O₄₆ isomer of the oxovanadate cluster with four O atoms oriented to the cage center and form with them a corrugated eight-membered ring Li₄O₄. The decrease in energy caused by the formation of the endohedral isomer (4Li + V₂₀O₄₅₀ → Li₄O₄@V₂₀O₄₆) is estimated at ~377 kcal/mol. The exohedral isomer 4Li ? V₂₀O₅₀ (S = 5), in which the Li atoms are coordinated to the outside of the V₂₀O₅₀ cage, is ~23 kcal/mol less favorable. For the other members of the Li series with n from 4 to 20, the endohedral isomers with the inner Li₄O₄ ring remain preferable. At n > 4, the extra Li atoms fill the outer sphere of the cage, being coordinated to its edges to form three-center O_t?Li?O_t bridges with terminal oxygen atoms. The specific energy of formation of Li _n V₂₀O₅₀ (by the scheme nLi + V₂₀O₄₅₀ → Li₄O₄@V₂₀O₄₆Li_n-4) per Li atom monotonically decrease from ~98 (n = 2) to ~80 kcal/mol (n = 20). For K _n V₂₀O₅₀, these energies are ~20?25 kcal/mol lower than for the lithium analogues and decrease from ~80 (n = 2) to ~64 kcal/mol (n = 12). The atoms of both alkali metals in the M _n V₂₀O₅₀ systems have large positive effective charges (0.85e?0.92e for K and 0.65e?0.78e for Li), which also monotonically decrease with increasing n. The addition of each alkali metal atom is accompanied by its ionization (М → М⁺) along with the reduction of one of the neighboring pentavalent vanadium atoms to the tetravalent state (V^V → V^IV) and localization of the unpaired electron in its 3d shell. For all Li _n V₂₀O₅₀ complexes, the states with maximal multiplicity and parallel spins are the most preferable.