The viability of aluminum Zintl anion moieties within magnesium-aluminum clusters

Calculations on these four stoichiometries provided geometric structures and full charge analyses for the cluster anions and their neutral cluster counterparts, as well as photodetachment transition energies (stick spectra). Calculations revealed that, unlike the cases of recently reported sodium-aluminum clusters, the formation of aluminum Zintl anion moieties within magnesiumaluminum clusters was limited in most cases by weak charge transfer between the magnesium atoms and their aluminum cluster moieties. Only in cases of high magnesium content, e.g., in Mg3Al11 and Mg2Al12 − , did the aluminum moieties exhibit Zintl anion-like characteristics.