The geometric and electronic structures of gas phase (Mo3S3)(n)S-2 and (Mo3S3)(n) (1)(MoS4)(2) clusters with n = 2, 3, 4,... are studied experimentally using mass and photoelectron spectroscopy. The Mo3S3 units form one-dimensional chains with length 'n'. There are two possible types of terminations at the ends: a single S atom or a MoS4 cluster. The experimental results are compared to calculations based on density-functional theory. Although clusters of this type have been known for decades as constituents of Chevrel phases, we here report their first gas phase synthesis for sizes up to n = 17. With increasing n, the gap vanishes extending such clusters to a conducting wire. (C) 2009 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.