Due to the heterometallic synergistic effects from different metals, heterometallic clusters are of great importance in small-molecule activation and catalysis. For example, both biological nitrogen fixation and photosynthetic splitting of water into oxygen are thought to involve multimetallic catalytic sites with d-block transition metals. Benefitting from the larger coordination numbers of f-block metals (rare-earth metals and actinide elements), heterometallic clusters containing f-block metal–metal bonds have long attracted the interest of both experimental and theoretical chemists. Therefore, a series of effective strategies or platforms have been developed in recent years for the construction of heterometallic clusters with f-block metal–metal bonds. More importantly, synergistic effects between f-block metals and transition metals have been observed in small-molecule activation and catalysis. This tutorial review highlights the recent advances in the construction of heterometallic molecular clusters with f-block metal–metal bonds and also their reactivities and applications. It is hoped that this tutorial review will persuade chemists to develop more efficient strategies to construct clusters with f-block metal–metal bonds and also further expand their applications with heterometallic synergistic effects.

中文翻译：

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具有 f 区金属-金属键的异金属簇的最新进展：合成、反应性和应用

由于不同金属的异金属协同效应，异金属簇在小分子活化和催化中具有重要意义。例如，生物固氮和光合作用将水分解为氧气都被认为涉及具有 d 区过渡金属的多金属催化位点。受益于 f-block 金属（稀土金属和锕系元素）的更大配位数，含有 f-block 金属-金属键的异金属簇长期以来吸引了实验和理论化学家的兴趣。因此，近年来已经开发了一系列有效的策略或平台来构建具有 f-block 金属-金属键的异金属簇。更重要的是，在小分子活化和催化中观察到 f 区金属和过渡金属之间的协同效应。本教程回顾重点介绍了在构建具有 f 区金属-金属键的异金属分子簇方面的最新进展，以及它们的反应性和应用。希望本教程回顾将说服化学家开发更有效的策略来构建具有 f-block 金属-金属键的簇，并进一步扩展其具有异质金属协同效应的应用。