Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-chemistry-course-of-the-year-3-of-the-natural-sciences-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2022/paper-4/52/a/solution

Write . The alternating-vertex cubane A is ; replacing one or two methyl vertices gives and . Balanced redistributions are
The smaller aggregate has composition , since the conventional masses or match the supplied values. Thus is another balanced redistribution.
For the structures, place Li on one tetrahedral set of cube corners and Me/X on the complementary set, joining adjacent unlike vertices. A contains four Me vertices, B three Me and one X, and C two of each. D is a four-membered alternating Li-Me-Li-X ring. The quoted relative masses use conventional elemental masses; a fully Li-enriched D would be approximately two mass units lighter, without changing its composition.

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