Synthesis of metal clusters protected by organic ligands, like thiolates, with atomic precision has recently come into prominence. The physical and chemical properties of metal clusters may vary depending on the type of ligands. For example, silver clusters that comprise 29 Ag atoms and 12 lipoate ligands have been reported to exhibit antibiotic activity as a microbial agent. Ongoing research consists of conjugating penicillin to this silver cluster in order to increase the efficacy of the antimicrobial agent. Since every lipoate ligand in the cluster will not attach to penicillin, mixtures of clusters with varying numbers of penicillin may occur. The primary objective of the work described here is to come up with a method that would successfully separate the clusters by the number of penicillin attached once the ongoing research is finalized. Given that the silver lipoate clusters have diameters of 3 nm and overall 3– charge, the agarose gel electrophoresis was chosen. To test the ability of the agarose electrophoresis to separate silver ligand clusters based on the different characteristics of ligands attached, silver clusters ligated with glutathione (GSH) were synthesized by reduction of silver glutathiolate in water. The following protocol was able to separate the two silver clusters: Tris-Borate-EDTA as a buffer, 3.7% agarose concentration, and 5V/cm. This separation was characterized by ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy.

Agarose gel electrophoresis to separate silver nanoparticle clusters

ACS Fall 2020 Virtual Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.