This paper presents a systematic study of multicenter and classical bonding on a broad series of experimentally known heteroboranes covering closo, nido, arachno and hypho types of cages with incorporated tetrel, pnictogen or chalcogen heterovertices up to the third-row elements. The nature of bonding is studied using a novel quantum-chemical tool, the intrinsic atomic/bond orbital (IAO/IBO) approach, which provides a direct connection between quantum chemistry and chemical concepts. We also discuss how the computed IBO properties are related to molecular observables such as interatomic distances, molecular electrostatic potential surfaces and dipole moments.

We have prepared nido-7,8,9,11-Sb 2 C 2 B 7 H 9 , the first cluster with simultaneous Sb-B, Sb-C and Sb-Sb atom pairs with interatomic separations with magnitudes that approach the respective sums of covalent radii. However, the length of the Sb-Sb separation in this cluster is slightly less than the sum of the covalent radii. Quantum chemical analysis has revealed that the crystal packing of nido-7,8,9,11-Sb 2 C 2 B 7 H 9 is predominantly dictated by pnictogen (Pn) bonding, an unconventional σ-hole interaction. Indeed, the interaction energy of a very strong Sb 2 ⋯H-B Pn-bond in the nido-7,8,9,11-Sb 2 C 2 B 7 H 9 dimer exceeds −6.0 kcal mol −1 . This is a very large value and is comparable to the strengths of known Pn-bonds in Cl 3 Pn⋯π complexes (Pn = As, Sb).