Ultra-small quantum-sized gold nanoclusters have attracted increasing interest in recent years due to their unique properties, which hold promise for wide-ranging applications such as catalysis, optics and sensors. In this regard, unraveling the atomic structures of these nanoclusters is of prime importance in order to fully understand their structure-property relationships. This talk will focus on the total atomic structure and resulting properties of one such atom-precise [Au24(PPh3)10(SC2H4Ph)5X2]+ nanocluster. Interestingly, this cluster exhibits properties which are distinctly different from the previously reported vertex-sharing biicosahedral [Au25(PPh3)10(SC2H4Ph)5X2]2+ nanocluster protected by the same type and number of phosphine and thiolate ligands. A comparison of these two nanoclusters clearly demonstrates that a single-atom difference may induce drastic differences in the nanocluster's properties. In addition, mechanistic insights into the preferential formation of [Au24(PPh3)10(SC2H4Ph)5X2]+ over [Au25(PPh3)10(SC2H4Ph)5X2]2+ will be discussed.

One gold atom makes a difference: [Au24(PPh3)10(SC2H4Ph)5X2]+ vs. [Au25(PPh3)10(SC2H4Ph)5X2]2+

246th National Meeting (2013)

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