Solvothermal Conversion of Discrete Cubic Cadmium Thiolate Cluster into Supertetrahedral Cluster Decorating Quartz-Type Chiral Superlattice

Two-cluster based structures, one having an ionic salt structure and one with the 3D chiral Α-quartz-type topology, were synthesized using a multistep synthetic procedure involving both solvothermal synthesis and room temperature diffusion process. Presynthesized cubic clusters were used as the precursor for the synthesis of three-dimensional (3D) covalent chalcogenide superlattices. CMF-8 (capped metal-chalcogenides framework), was synthesized in a three-step process, in which an ionic compound CMM-5, [Cd₈(SPhF3)₁₄(DMF)₆(NO₃)](NO₃) was first prepared in two steps at room temperature. Single crystals of CMF-8 were then obtained by reacting CMM-5 with thiourea in an acetone/H₂O solution at 85°C. The results demonstrate how the semiconductor nanoclusters and their superlattices can be synthesized by controlling various synthetic parameters and the effect of the surface-capping ligands on the cluster structure and their pattern of organization.