Chinese lantern structure

In chemistry, the Chinese lantern structure is a coordination complex where two metal atoms are bridged by four bidentate ligands. This structure type is also known as a paddlewheel complex. Examples include chromium(II) acetate, molybdenum(II) acetate, and rhodium(II) acetate, copper(II) acetate dihydrate. The name is derived from the resemblance between the structure and a Chinese paper lantern. Often additional ligands are bound to the metal centers along the M---M vector. The degree of metal-metal bonding varies according to the d-electron configuration.^[1]

The Chinese lantern structure adopted by dirhodium tetraacetate dihydrate

Complexes with Chinese lantern structure

• Copper benzoate
• Copper acetate
• Chromium(II) acetate
• Molybdenum(II) acetate
• Diruthenium tetraacetate chloride
• Rhodium acetate