Eight‐Coordinate Endohedral Rhenium, Osmium and Iridium Atoms in Rare‐Earth Halide Cluster Complexes

Endohedral (interstitial) atoms are essential for almost all of the rare-earth halide cluster complexes. Most of these contain octahedral clusters, some are isolated, but the majority exhibits condensation by common edges to structures of higher dimensionality. Higher coordination numbers of the endohedral atoms are rare. Four examples of extended cluster complexes with eight-coordinate endohedral atoms of sixth-period elements (Re, Os, Ir) are presented. In the quasi-isostructural, non-isotypic halides (ReGd 4 )Br 4 and {OsSc 4 }-Cl 4 , square antiprisms of gadolinium and scandium atoms, respectively, are connected by two common faces to chains, surrounded and loosely connected by halogeni…