Cover Feature: Synthesis of the (Sn4Bi4)2− Anion by Mild Oxidation of (Sn2Bi2)2− (Z. Anorg. Allg. Chem. 4/2024)

Treatment of the binary Zintl anion (Sn2Bi2)2− with phosphines as mild oxidation agents in ortho-difluorobenzene causes expansion to the new species (Sn4Bi4)2−, which crystallizes along with K(crypt-222)+ cations (crypt-222=4,7,13,16,21,24-hexaoxa-1,10-diazabicyclo8.8.8hexacosane). The electron-count and architecture of the anion are consistent with a Wade-Mingos arachno-type cluster, obtained in its minimum-energy isomer according to DFT calculations (DOI: 10.1002/zaac.202300229).