An {Fe₆₀} tetrahedral cage: building nanoscopic molecular assemblies through cyanometallate and alkoxo linkers

A nanoscopic {Fe60} coordination cage (approximately 3 nm) was prepared by the self assembly of a partially blocked tricyanidoferrate(III) complex and tris(alkoxo)-based iron(III) coordination motifs. This cage is a rare example of a mixed cyanido/alkoxo-bridged high nuclearity complex and it exemplifies the great potential of this new synthetic route to generate uncommon molecular architectures using cyanometallates as metalloligands versus alkoxo-based polynuclear entities.