Hydride encapsulation by molecular alkali-metal clusters

The sequential treatment of group 12 and 13 Lewis acids with alkali-metal organometallics is well established to yield so-called 'ate' complexes, whereby the Lewis-acid metal undergoes nucleophilic attack to give an anion, at least one group 1 metal acting to counter this charge. However, an alternative, less well recognised, reaction pathway involves the Lewis acid abstracting hydride from the organolithium reagent via a beta-elimination mechanism. It has recently been shown that in the presence of N,N'-bidentate ligands this chemistry can be harnessed to yield a new type of molecular main-group metal cluster in which the abstracted LiH is effectively trapped, with the hydride ion occupying an interstitial site in the cluster core. Discussion focuses on the development of this field, detailing advances in our understanding of the roles of Lewis acid, organolithium, and amine substrates in the syntheses of these compounds. Structure-types are discussed, as are efforts to manipulate cluster geometry and composition as well as hydride-coordination. Embryonic mechanistic studies are reported, as well as attempts to generate hydride-encapsulation clusters under catalytic control.