Wheel-Shaped Polyoxotungstate [Cu 20 Cl(OH) 24 (H 2 O) 12 (P 8 W 48 O 184 )] 25- Macroanions Form Supramolecular “Blackberry” Structure in Aqueous Solution Guang Liu, ² Tianbo Liu,* ,² Sib Sankar Mal, ‡ and Ulrich Kortz ‡ Contribution from the Department of Chemistry, Lehigh UniVersity, Bethlehem, PennsylVania 18015, and School of Engineering and Science, International UniVersity Bremen, P.O. Box 750 561, 28725 Bremen, Germany Received February 14, 2006; E-mail: til204@lehigh.edu Abstract: The hydrophilic polyoxotungstate [Cu20Cl(OH)24(H2O)12(P8W48O184)] 25- ({Cu20P8W48}) self- assembles into single-layer, hollow, spherical “blackberry”-type structures in aqueous solutions, as studied by dynamic light scattering (DLS), static light scattering (SLS), zeta potential analysis, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques. This represents the first report of blackberry formation for a non-Mo-containing polyoxometalate. There is no obvious change in the shape and size of the blackberries during the slow blackberry formation process, neither with macroionic concentration nor with temperature. Our results suggest that the blackberry-type structure formation is most likely a general phenomenon for hydrophilic macroions with suitable size and charge in a polar solvent, and not a specific property of polyoxomolybdates and their derivatives. The {Cu 20P8W48} macroions are thus far the smallest type of macroions to date (equivalent radius < 2 nm) showing the unique self-assembly behavior, helping us to move one step closer toward identifying the transition point from simple ions (can be described by the Debye-Hu ¨ ckel theory) to macroions in very dilute solutions. Moreover, by using {Cu20P8W48} blackberry-type structures as the model system, the electrophoretic properties of macroionic supramolecular structures are studied for the first time via zeta-potential analysis. The mobility of blackberry-type structures is determined and used for understanding the state of small cations in solution. We notice that the average charge density on each {Cu 20P8W48} macroanion in a blackberry is much lower than that of discrete “free” {Cu20P8W48} macroions. This result suggests that some small alkali counterions are closely associated with, or even incorporated into, the blackberry-type structures and thus do not contribute to solution conductivity. This model is fully consistent with our speculation that monovalent counterions play an important role in the self-assembly of macroions, possibly providing an attractive force contributing to blackberry formation. Introduction Polyoxometalates (POMs) represent a large group of early transition metal-oxygen anionic clusters with enormously diverse chemical structures, physical properties, and promising applications as catalytic, magnetic, electrical, and optical materials. 1-3 Due to their highly negative charge and water ligands on the surface, most POMs are hydrophilic and highly soluble in polar solvents. Recent discoveries demonstrate that some giant polyoxomolybdates (so-called POM macroions, with diameters of several nanometers) exhibit fascinating solution behaviors. Unlike common soluble electrolytes that disperse homogeneously in aqueous solutions, such highly soluble macroions tend to further self-associate into spherical, single- layer, vesicle-like, “blackberry”-type structures in very dilute solutions. These observations have introduced fundamentally novel aspects to POM chemistry in particular and also to solution physical chemistry in general. 4-12 The blackberry-type structure formation differs from the aggregation of hydrophobic colloids (due to van der Waals forces) which leads to phase separation. On the other hand, the macroionic solutions are transparent and thermodynamically stable, without any phase separation. Ther- modynamic studies indicate that the macroionic solution is a novel type of solution state which differs from simple ionic solutions. To overcome the electrostatic repulsion between negatively charged macroions, certain driving forces must be present when the macroions move closer to each other ² Lehigh University. ‡ International University Bremen. (1) Pope, M. T. Heteropoly and Isopoly Oxometalates; Springer-Verlag: New York, 1983. (2) Hill, C. L., Ed. Polyoxometalates. Chem. ReV. 1998, 98,1-387. (3) Yamase, T.; Pope, M. T. Eds. 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