Polyhedral dinickelaboranes as analogues of the dicarbaboranes

Density functional theory of dinickela-boranes Cp2Ni2Bn−2Hn−2 (n=8–12), including the experimentally known 10- and 12-vertex systems, indicates an energetic preference for the most spherical closo deltahedra having non-adjacent nickel atoms with one such nickel atom at a degree 4 vertex.