A unified view of ligand-protected gold clusters as superatom complexes

2008

Synthesis, characterization, and functionalization of self-assembled, ligand-stabilized gold nanoparticles are long-standing issues in the chemistry of nanomaterials. Factors driving the thermodynamic stability of well documented discrete sizes are largely unknown. Herein, we provide a unified view of principles that underlie the stability of particles protected by thiolate (SR) or phosphine and halide (PR 3 , X) ligands. The picture has emerged from analysis of large-scale density functional theory calculations of structurally characterized compounds, namely Au 102 (SR) 44 , Au 39 (PR 3 ) 14 X 6 − , Au 11 (PR 3 ) 7 X 3 , and Au 13 (PR 3 ) 10 X 2 3+ , where X is either a halogen or a thiol…