<br/>Thiolate-protected gold nanoclusters have been extensively studied due to its stability and wide applications however, other chalcogens such as selenium and tellurium have seldom been studied due to their lack of commercial availability. Here we adapt an ecofriendly method of synthesizing a dialkyl diselenide as the ligand for producing a stabilized gold nanocluster. We present herein a detailed synthesis and characterization of octaneselenolate-stabilized gold nanoclusters (NCs) via a ligand-exchange reaction between pre-synthesized octanethiolate-stabilized Au25 clusters and dioctyl-diselenide as a function of charge state of the former. The kinetics of the exchange reaction were monitored and characterized by ultra-violet spectroscopy (UV-Vis), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), 1H, 13C and 77Se nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) as compared with those obtained pre-exchange reactions. We will discuss that although the exchange reaction did take place, the incoming selenolate replaced first only one of the two staple types of the original thiolates before further replacing the other type of thiolate. The results indicate that the seleonolate-protected gold nanocluster is more stable than the thiolate-protected gold nanocluster due to the strong bonding interaction between selenium and gold. The comparison between the thiolate-stabilized gold nanocluster and the selonolate-stabilized gold nanocluster can be further applied to the mechanistic exchange reaction with dioctyl-ditelluride.

Synthesis of octaneselenolate-capped Au<sub>25</sub> nanoclusters using a ligand-exchange approach

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

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Synthesis of octaneselenolate-capped Au25 nanoclusters using a ligand-exchange approach

Synthesis of octaneselenolate-capped Au₂₅ nanoclusters using a ligand-exchange approach