A Gigantic Molecular Wheel of {Gd140}: A New Member of the Molecular Wheel Family

Nanoscale inorganic wheel-shaped structures are one of the most striking types of molecular aggregations. Here, we report the synthesis of a gigantic lanthanide wheel cluster containing 140 Gd³⁺ atoms. As the largest lanthanide cluster reported thus far, {Gd₁₄₀} features an attractive wheel-like structure with 10-fold symmetry. The nanoscopic molecular wheel possesses the largest diameter of 6.0 nm and displays high stability in solution, which allows direct visualization by scanning transmission electron microscopy. The newly discovered lanthanide {Gd₁₄₀} cluster represents a new member of the molecular wheel family.