Gold(I) and copper(I) thiolates are important precursors in the synthesis of bimetallic gold/copper nanoparticles. In the aqueous synthesis of these nanoparticles, the first step is the reduction of gold(III) or copper(II) starting materials in solution by a polyethylene glycol (PEG) thiol to form the corresponding thiolate. This thiolate contains the metal in the +1 oxidation state. Very few copper(I) and gold(I) thiolates have been structurally characterized because of the difficulty of growing single crystals of these compounds, arising from their low solubility. We present results of our studies on the following model compounds for PEG thiolates: copper(I) and gold(I) 2-mercaptoethanolate (general formula M-S-CH2CH2OH) as well as copper(I) and gold(I) 2-(2-mercaptoethoxy)ethanolate (general formula M-S-CH2CH2-O-CH2CH2OH). The synthesis of the thiolates proceeded in high yields, and their chemical identities were confirmed by elemental analysis and spectroscopic methods. Lastly, the crystal structures of the two copper(I) thiolates were obtained from synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction patterns, but the Au(I) thiolates were found to be amorphous.

Synthesis and characterization of model copper(I) and gold(I) thiolate nanoparticle precursor complexes

255th National Meeting (2018)

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