Nuclearity expansion in Pd clusters triggered by the migration of a phenyl group in cyclooligosilanes.

Heptanuclear palladium clusters with six palladium atoms in a planar arrangement were obtained from the reaction of [Pd(CNtBu)2]3 with Ph-substituted cyclotetrasilane or cyclopentasilane via the migration of a phenyl group. The molecular structures of these clusters as well as those of two possible intermediates were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analyses.