Oxygen in a box: an oxygen atom surrounded by a cube of 8 lithium atoms

Although molecular structures in which there is an oxygen atom surrounded b y a tetrahedral or an octahedral array of cations are familiar (though not common), no molecule has previously been reported in which an oxygen atom i s surrounded by a cubic array of metal atoms. We describe here such a molec ule, (C11H13N3)(6)Li8O, where C11H13N3 is a bidentate, uninegative ligand. (C) 1999 Academie des sciences / Editions scientifiques et medicales Elsevi er SAS.