The novel cluster anion [Co
11Te
5(CO)
15]
- (
[3]-) has been isolated and structurally characterized as part of the salt[Cp*
2Nb(CO)
2]
[3] (Cp* = C
5Me
5). The cobalt-centered Co
10 pentagonal prism is surrounded by a shell of two
5-Te, three
4-Te ligands, and 15 CO groups in terminal, symmetrical, and
![](/images/gifchars/sigma.gif)
-semibridging bonding modes. Thehybrid carbonyl-telluride character of the ligand shell is reflected in the solid state by a one-dimensional assemblyof polyhedral prisms along a backbone of [Cp*
2Nb(CO)
2]
+ cations. Electrochemical studies reveal the presence offour redox couples of
[3]n (
n = -1 to -5). The electronic structures of various metal-centered and empty pentagonal-prismatic (PP) M
10 clusters (M = Co, Ni) are calculated and compared to those of pentagonal-antiprismatic (PA)M
10 structures. Closed-shells of 152 and 156 metal valence electrons, respectively, are found to determine theelectronic structures and chemical properties of these geometries. From these considerations, magnetic propertieshave been predicted. They have been verified for the [Co
11Te
7(CO)
10]
- cluster anion, which exhibits a singlet-triplet gap of 0.318 kcal/mol.