Surface decorated metal carbonyl clusters: bridging organometallic molecular clusters and atomically precise ligated nanoclusters.

In this Frontier Article, the work carried out within our research group in Bologna in the field of surface decorated metal carbonyl clusters will be outlined and put in a more general context. After a short Introduction, clusters composed of a metal carbonyl core decorated on the surface by metal-ligand fragments will be analyzed. Both metal-ligand fragments behaving as Lewis acids and Lewis bases will be considered. Then, the focus will be moved to clusters composed of a naked metal core decorated and stabilized on the surface by metal-carbonyl fragments. The structure and bonding (where theoretical studies are available) of such surface decorated metal carbonyl clusters will be presented, and compared to atomically precise ligated nanoclusters.