d-AO spherical aromaticity in Ce₆O₈

After the first introduction of π aromaticity in chemistry to explain the bonding, structure, and reactivity of benzene and its derivatives, this concept was further applied to many other compounds featuring other types of aromaticity (i.e., σ, δ). Thus far, there have been no reports on d‐AO‐based spherical σ aromaticity. Here, we predict a highly stable bare Ce6O8 cluster of a spherical shape using evolutionary algorithm USPEX and DFT + U calculations. Natural bond orbital analysis, adaptive natural density partitioning algorithm, electron localization function, and partial charge plots demonstrate that bare Ce6O8 cluster exhibits d‐AO spherical σ aromaticity, thus explaining its exotic geometry and stability. Ce6O8 complex plays an important role in many reactions and is known to exist in many forms, such as in NH4[Ce6(μ3O)5(μ3OH)3(μ2‐C6H5COO)9(NO3)3(DMF)3]*DMF*H2O compound, which is prepared under room temperature, and acts as an oxidizing agent. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.