Dear Colleagues,

Because crystallographically characterized chalcogenidometalate clusters are fundamentally and technologically significant, they have attracted a great amount of attention. Over the past two decades, metal-chalcogenide clusters have seen rapid development, and two distinct branches have emerged: noble metal Au/Ag thiolate systems and regularly shaped clusters based on non-precious metals. Among the latter, supertetrahedral compounds that bear the closest resemblance to structurally precise fragments of the cubic ZnS-type semiconductor, also termed as Tn, where n is the number of metal sites along the edge of a tetrahedron, represent the most fundamental form. Other supertetrahedral series that have been published include pentasupertetrahedral (Pn), capped (Cn), hierarchical Tp,q, describing a supertetrahedral Tq of Tp clusters serving as nodes, octahedron-centered (T-On), and oxygenated (O-Tn) types which can be derived from Tn. In addition to supertetrahedral clusters, other types of chalcogenidometalate clusters, such as rings and cages, have also been published. These clusters exhibit distinct properties associated with a semiconductor-like, quantum-confinement effect and/or inversion-symmetry-free geometry. 

Beyond the extended structures based on chalcogenidometalate cluster-based organizations, there is great interest in isolated molecular clusters, because they can be processed in solution into diverse user-desired forms, and supported by theoretical calculations, providing insight into structure-property relationships. One challenge concerning supertetrahedral discrete clusters is the existence of labile dangling underbonded chalcogen sites at their vertices. The synthetic strategies developed so far to stabilize supertetrahedral isolated clusters have been mainly focused on incorporation of peripheral organic ligands in the form of thiolates or selenolates. Another approach to their synthesis is to terminate the cluster corners with a neutral N-donor ligand such as lutidine. Selection of organometallic species to restrict intercluster linkage is also an alternative. Such organotetrel chalcogenide cluster-based solids have unique optical properties, including strong second-harmonic or white-light continuum generation, and even photoresistance useful in extreme ultraviolet lithography. 

Despite the number of publications available within the disciplines of synthetic chemistry and applications of chalcogenidometalate clusters, our understanding of how the structure of these molecules relates to their properties is still limited. Therefore, this Special Issue is dedicated to communications in the form of original research and review articles, which cover the synthetic methodologies to prepare chalcogenidometalate clusters with simultaneous control in size, surface features, and spatial arrangements from zero to three dimensions, and their structure and activity relationships. Review articles may discuss the specific subclasses of chalcogenidometalate molecules or specific activity or group of related activities. If within the scope of metal–chalcogenide coordination complexes, other non-cluster chalcogenidometalates may also be considered for this Special Issue. Authors considering the submission of a review are kindly asked to provide in advance to the guest editor a brief outline of the subject matter of their work.

Prof. Dr. Qipu Lin
Guest Editor

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• chalcogenide clusters
• chalcogenidometalate clusters
• chalcogenido metalate clusters
• supertetrahedral clusters
• sulfidometalate clusters
• selenidometalate clusters
• metal-sulfide clusters
• metal-selenide clusters
• oxychalcogenide clusters
• oxysulfide clusters
• oxyselenide clusters
• sulfido-oxido metalate clusters
• selenido-oxido metalate clusters
• chalcogenidometalate frameworks
• metal-chalcogenide frameworks
• chalcogenidometalate superlattices
• metal-chalcogenide supterlattices
• open-framework metal chalcogenides
• open-framework chalcogenidometalates