[Au₂₅(SR)₁₈]₂²⁻: a noble metal cluster dimer in the gas phase

Abstract

We present the first example of dimer formation in the monolayer protected atomically precise cluster system, Au25(SR)18, using ion mobility mass spectrometry. These transient species are shown to be important in explaining chemical reactivity between clusters.

Metal–Ligand Interface in the Chemical Reactions of Ligand-Protected Noble Metal Clusters

“…76 Interfacial bonding between Au25(SR)18 clusters leading to the formation of cluster dimers and trimers is also presented. 77 Finally, we show that desorption of phosphine and hydride ligands on a silver cluster, [Ag18(TPP)10H16] 2+ in gas phase, lead to the formation of naked silver clusters of specific nuclearity, such as Ag17 + . 78 We conclude the article with a summary and brief discussion of the future perspectives.…”

“…calculations show that these dimers were formed by the bonding between the Au2(SR)3 staple motifs, as shown in Figure 5. 77 Spectroscopic evidence of such bonding in gas phase is not available so far, however, inter-staple bonding has been detected in crystals. 38 Note that this type of inter-staple bonding has not altered the total number of metal atoms, ligands and the charge states of individual clusters in these dimers.…”

Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry: A Powerful Platform for Noble‐Metal Nanocluster Analysis

“…The complexes are mostly stabilized by the van‐der‐Waals forces and π–π interactions between the fullerenes and the NCs, both in solution and the gas phase. Furthermore, NC–NC interactions could also exist, forming stable noble‐metal‐NC dimers . Although the dimer formation only takes place in the gas phase, they can be identified from the MS as well.…”

Cd-driven surface reconstruction and photodynamics in gold nanoclusters

“…3 Thiolate-protected gold nanoclusters, Au n (SR) m , where n is the number of gold atoms and m is the number of the thiolate ligand SR, have gained momentum over the past years as an exciting area and opened up new horizons in precise tailoring of the composition and structure to control the physicochemical properties. [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] The Au n (SR) m nanoclusters are typically configured with an inner gold core (or kernel) and various surface motifs, in which the motifs containing both gold and thiolate resemble the staples. Both the gold core and the surface motifs can contribute to the physicochemical properties such as the optical and electronic properties, as well as catalysis.…”