The use of gold nanoparticles as scaffolds for the sequential attachment of thiolate ligands with diverse functionalities, here referred to as ikebana chemistry, represents a facile and attractive route to multifunctional supramolecular materials. As an increasing variety of chemical and supramolecular functionalities are being made commercially available as thiolated reagents, this assembly strategy is becoming more and more realistic and powerful. Here we demonstrate the design and assembly of monolayer protected clusters (MPCs) of gold, with a range of complex biomimetic properties such as spontaneous membrane insertion and charge transfer across membranes under non-equilibrium conditions. These properties are conferred to the clusters by the choice of functionalities that are integrated in the ligand shell. These include both functional and structural moieties such as crown ethers, polyethylene oxide chains, carboranes and redox-active domains. The results reported here are preliminary and part of ongoing research.

Ikebana chemistry as a route to multifunctional gold nanoparticles with biomimetic properties

248th National Meeting (2014)

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