Kuznetsov Aleksey E, Birch K Alexander, Boldyrev Alexander I, Li Xi, Zhai Hua-Jin, Wang Lai-Sheng
Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Utah State University, Logan, UT 84322, USA.
Science. 2003 Apr 25;300(5619):622-5. doi: 10.1126/science.1082477.
We report the experimental and theoretical characterization of antiaromaticity in an all-metal system, Li3Al4(-), which we produced by laser vaporization and studied with the use of photoelectron spectroscopy and ab initio calculations. The most stable structure of Li3Al4(-) found theoretically contained a rectangular Al4(4-) tetraanion stabilized by the three Li+ ions in a capped octahedral arrangement. Molecular orbital analyses reveal that the rectangular Al4(4-) tetraanion has four pi electrons, consistent with the 4n Hückel rule for antiaromaticity.
