For decades, chemists have explored cluster compounds according to theoretical models that have proved too simplistic to accurately predict cluster properties, stabilities and functions. By incorporating molecular symmetry into existing cluster models, we can better study real polyatomic molecules and have new guidelines for their design. This symmetry-adapted cluster model allows us to discover substances that shatter the conventional notion of clusters. Theoretical predictors will point to the viability of new clusters, whose syntheses can be realized with parallel advances in experimental methods. This Perspective describes these modern experimental and theoretical strategies for cluster design and how they may give rise to new fields in cluster chemistry.

几十年来，化学家一直根据理论模型探索簇化合物，这些理论模型已被证明过于简单，无法准确预测簇的性质、稳定性和功能。通过将分子对称性纳入现有的簇模型，我们可以更好地研究真实的多原子分子，并为它们的设计提供新的指导方针。这种适应对称的集群模型使我们能够发现打破传统集群概念的物质。理论预测指标将指向新集群的可行性，其合成可以通过实验方法的并行进步来实现。该观点描述了这些用于簇设计的现代实验和理论策略，以及它们如何在簇化学中产生新的领域。