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.

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.