Electronic Structure

Abstract This chapter discusses the origin of fermionic shell structure in confined quantum systems, its application to metal clusters and clusters that are stabilized by an organic ligand layer (the so-called monolayer-protected clusters, MPCs). It reviews briefly the so-called superatom concept which has become central in the MPC field in recent years. It also contains a rather extensive table listing most of the structurally known MPCs, where the metal core is of gold, silver, copper, aluminum, or other main-group elements.

Dynamics of weak interactions in the ligand layer of meta-mercaptobenzoic acid protected gold nanoclusters Au68(m-MBA)32 and Au144(m-MBA)40

Atomically precise metal nanoclusters, stabilized and functionalized by organic ligands, are emerging nanomaterials with potential applications in plasmonics, nano-electronics, bio-imaging, nanocatalysis, and as therapeutic agents or drug carriers in nanomedicine. The ligand layer has an important role in modifying the physico-chemical properties of the clusters and in defining the interactions between the clusters and the environment. While this role is well recognized from a great deal of experimental studies, there is very little theoretical information on dynamical processes within the layer itself. Here, we have performed extensive molecular dynamics simulations, with forces calculated…

Metal Cluster — Surface Interaction: Simple Models and Ab Initio Calculations

We review recent ab initio atomistic calculations on interactions between metal clusters and electronically inert (insulating) substrates. The model system is sodium clusters on the sodium-chloride (001) surface. This system provides an example of weak cluster-support interaction (physisorption) which can however be easily modified by introducing color centers at the surface, resulting in chemisorption of sodium adatom or cluster. The results obtained from atomistic calculations can be used for constructing simple jellium-type models for the adsorbed cluster. These models allow for systematic investigations in a large size-range of clusters on the shell structure, dimensionality, and stabil…

Atomically Precise Nanocluster Assemblies Encapsulating Plasmonic Gold Nanorods.

The self-assembled structures of atomically precise, ligand-protected noble metal nanoclusters leading to encapsulation of plasmonic gold nanorods (GNRs) is presented. Unlike highly sophisticated DNA nanotechnology, this strategically simple hydrogen bonding-directed self-assembly of nanoclusters leads to octahedral nanocrystals encapsulating GNRs. Specifically, the p-mercaptobenzoic acid (pMBA)-protected atomically precise silver nanocluster, Na4 [Ag44 (pMBA)30 ], and pMBA-functionalized GNRs were used. High-resolution transmission and scanning transmission electron tomographic reconstructions suggest that the geometry of the GNR surface is responsible for directing the assembly of silver …

Covalent and non-covalent coupling of a Au102 nanocluster with a fluorophore: energy transfer, quenching and intracellular pH sensing

Interactions between an atomically precise gold nanocluster Au102(p-MBA)44 (p-MBA = para mercaptobenzoic acid) and a fluorescent organic dye molecule (KU, azadioxatriangulenium) are studied. In solution, the constituents form spontaneously a weakly bound complex leading to quenching of fluorescence of the KU dye via energy transfer. The KU can be separated from the complex by lowering pH, leading to recovery of fluorescence, which forms a basis for an optical reversible pH sensor. However, the sensor is not a stable entity, which could be delivered inside cells. For this purpose, a covalently bound hybrid is synthesized by linking the KU dye to the ligand layer of the cluster via an ester b…

What Contributes to the Measured Chiral Optical Response of the Glutathione-Protected Au25 Nanocluster?

The water-soluble glutathione-protected [Au25(GSH)18]−1 nanocluster was investigated by integrating several methodologies such as molecular dynamics simulations, essential dynamics analysis, and state-of-the-art time-dependent density functional theory calculations. Fundamental aspects such as conformational, weak interactions and solvent effects, especially hydrogen-bonds, were included and found to play a fundamental role in assessing the optical response of this system. Our analysis demonstrated not only that the electronic circular dichroism is extremely sensitive to the solvent presence but also that the solvent itself plays an active role in the optical activity of such system, formin…

Cubic aromaticity in ligand-stabilized doped Au superatoms

The magnetic response of valence electrons in doped gold-based [M@Au8L8]q superatoms (M = Pd, Pt, Ag, Au, Cd, Hg, Ir, and Rh; L = PPh3; and q = 0, +1, +2) is studied by calculating the gauge including magnetically induced currents (GIMIC) in the framework of the auxiliary density functional theory. The studied systems include 24 different combinations of the dopant, total cluster charge, and cluster structure (cubic-like or oblate). The magnetically induced currents (both diatropic and paratropic) are shown to be sensitive to the atomic structure of clusters, the number of superatomic electrons, and the chemical nature of the dopant metal. Among the cubic-like structures, the strongest arom…

A Unified AMBER-Compatible Molecular Mechanics Force Field for Thiolate-Protected Gold Nanoclusters.

We present transferable AMBER-compatible force field parameters for thiolate-protected gold nanoclusters. Five different sized clusters containing both organo-soluble and water-soluble thiolate ligands served as test systems in MD simulations, and parameters were validated against DFT and experimental results. The cluster geometries remain intact during the MD simulations in various solvents, and structural fluctuations and energetics showed agreement with DFT calculations. Experimental diffusion coefficients and crystal structures were also reproduced with sufficient accuracy. The presented parameter set contains the minimum number of cluster-specific parameters enabling the use of these p…

The redox chemistry of gold with high-valence doped calcium oxide.

Hydrophobic pocket targeting probes for enteroviruses

Visualization and tracking of viruses without compromising their functionality is crucial in order to understand virus targeting to cells and tissues, and to understand the subsequent subcellular steps leading to virus uncoating and replication. Enteroviruses are important human pathogens causing a vast number of acute infections, and are also suggested to contribute to the development of chronic diseases like type I diabetes. Here, we demonstrate a novel method to target site-specifically the hydrophobic pocket of enteroviruses. A probe, a derivative of Pleconaril, was developed and conjugated to various labels that enabled the visualization of enteroviruses under light and electron micros…

Optical absorption of magnesia-supported gold clusters and nanoscale catalysts: Effects due to the support, clusters, and adsorbants

Polarization-resolved optical spectra of magnesia-supported gold clusters ${\mathrm{Au}}_{N}∕\mathrm{Mg}\mathrm{O}$ $(N=1,2,4,8)$, bound at a surface color center ${F}_{s}$ of the MgO(100) face, are calculated from the time-dependent density functional theory. The optical lines for $N=1,2$ are dominated by transitions that involve strong hybridization between gold and ${F}_{s}$ states whereas for $N=4,8$ intracluster transitions dominate. The theoretical optical spectra are sensitive to cluster structure and adsorbants (here CO and ${\mathrm{O}}_{2}$ molecules on ${\mathrm{Au}}_{8}∕{F}_{s}@\mathrm{Mg}\mathrm{O}$) which suggests polarization-resolved optical spectroscopy as a powerful tool t…

Electronic-structure-induced deformations of liquid metal clusters

Ab initio molecular dynamics is used to study deformations of sodium clusters at temperatures $500\cdots 1100$ K. Open-shell Na$_{14}$ cluster has two shape isomers, prolate and oblate, in the liquid state. The deformation is stabilized by opening a gap at the Fermi level. The closed-shell Na$_8$ remains magic also at the liquid state.

Patterning of supported gold monolayers via chemical lift-off lithography

The supported monolayer of Au that accompanies alkanethiolate molecules removed by polymer stamps during chemical lift-off lithography is a scarcely studied hybrid material. We show that these Au–alkanethiolate layers on poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) are transparent, functional, hybrid interfaces that can be patterned over nanometer, micrometer, and millimeter length scales. Unlike other ultrathin Au films and nanoparticles, lifted-off Au–alkanethiolate thin films lack a measurable optical signature. We therefore devised fabrication, characterization, and simulation strategies by which to interrogate the nanoscale structure, chemical functionality, stoichiometry, and spectral signature of t…

Gold Nanoclusters: Atomically Precise Gold Nanoclusters: Towards an Optimal Biocompatible System from a Theoretical–Experimental Strategy (Small 27/2021)

Pienestä syntyi suurta = Nano came to Jyväskylä

Evidence of superatom electronic shells in ligand-stabilized aluminum clusters

Ligand-stabilized aluminum clusters are investigated by density functional theory calculations. Analysis of Kohn-Sham molecular orbitals and projected density of states uncovers an electronic shell structure that adheres to the superatom complex model for ligand-stabilized aluminum clusters. In this current study, we explain how the superatom complex electron-counting rule is influenced by the electron-withdrawing ligand and a dopant atom in the metallic core. The results may guide the prediction of new stable ligand-stabilized (superatom) complexes, regardless of core and electron-withdrawing ligand composition.

First-principles simulations of hydrogen peroxide formation catalyzed by small neutral gold clusters.

Energetics and dynamical pathways for hydrogen peroxide formation from H(2) and O(2) bound to neutral gold dimers and tetramers have been investigated by applying several strategies: T = 0 K geometry optimizations, constrained Car-Parrinello molecular dynamics simulations at T = 300 K and metadynamics at T = 300 K. The competing reaction channels for water and hydrogen peroxide formation have been found and characterized. In each case, the reaction barriers for Au cluster catalyzed proton transfer are less than 1 eV. Water formation is a competitive reaction channel, and the relative weight of H(2)O and H(2)O(2) products may depend on the chosen Au cluster size. Dynamic simulations demonstr…

Chiral Inversion of Thiolate-Protected Gold Nanoclusters via Core Reconstruction without Breaking an Au-S Bond

Based on density functional theory computations of the well-known chiral Au38(SR)24 nanocluster and its Pd- and Ag-doped derivatives, we propose here a mechanism for chiral inversion that does not require breaking of a metal-sulfur bond at the metal-ligand interface, but features a collective rotation of the gold core. The calculated energy barriers for this mechanism for Au38 and Pddoped Au38 are in the range of 1 – 1.5 eV, significantly lower than barriers involving breakage of Au-S bonds (2.5 eV). For Ag-doped Au38, barriers for both mechanisms are similar (1.3 – 1.5 eV). Inversion barriers for a larger chiral Au144(SR)60 are much higher (2.8 eV). Our computed barriers are in a good agre…

Nonmagnetic and magnetic thiolate-protected Au25superatoms on Cu(111), Ag(111), and Au(111) surfaces

Geometry, electronic structure, and magnetic properties of methylthiolate-stabilized Au$_{25}$L$_{18}$ and MnAu$_{24}$L$_{18}$ (L = SCH$_3$) clusters adsorbed on noble-metal (111) surfaces have been investigated by using spin-polarized density functional theory computations. The interaction between the cluster and the surface is found to be mediated by charge transfer mainly from or into the ligand monolayer. The electronic properties of the 13-atom metal core remain in all cases rather undisturbed as compared to the isolated clusters in gas phase. The Au$_{25}$L$_{18}$ cluster retains a clear HOMO - LUMO energy gap in the range of 0.7 eV to 1.0 eV depending on the surface. The ligand layer…

Bulky Surface Ligands Promote Surface Reactivities of [Ag141X12(S-Adm)40]3+ (X=Cl, Br, I) Nanoclusters: Models for Multiple-Twinned Nanoparticles

Surface ligands play important roles in controlling the size and shape of metal nanoparticles and their surface properties. In this work, we demonstrate that the use of bulky thiolate ligands, along with halides, as the surface capping agent promotes the formation of plasmonic multiple-twinned Ag nanoparticles with high surface reactivities. The title nanocluster [Ag141X12(S-Adm)40]3+ (where X = Cl, Br, I; S-Adm = 1-adamantanethiolate) has a multiple-shell structure with an Ag71 core protected by a shell of Ag70X12(S-Adm)40. The Ag71 core can be considered as 20 frequency-two Ag10 tetrahedra fused together with a dislocation that resembles multiple-twinning in nanoparticles. The nanocluster…

Gold assisted oxygen dissociation on a molybdenum-doped CaO(001) surface

Using density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we address the adsorption of O2 and the coadsorption of gold species and oxygen molecules on a Mo-doped CaO(001) surface with 1.25% impurity concentration. With the help of the Born–Haber thermodynamic cycle, the enhanced binding of an oxygen molecule on Ca(Mo)O is attributed to energy gain owing to simultaneous electron transfer from the dopant to the molecule and lattice relaxations. We consider three coadsorption structures for an Au atom and O2 molecule with different Au–O2 distances. The calculations demonstrate that the coadsorption structures take one electron from the dopant and the O–Au–O chain structure is thermodynamically more …

Stability, electronic structure, and optical properties of protected gold-doped silver Ag29−xAux (x = 0–5) nanoclusters

In this work, we used density functional theory (DFT) and linear response time-dependent DFT (LR-TDDFT) to investigate the stability, electronic structure, and optical properties of Au-doped [Ag29-xAux(BDT)12(TPP)4]3- nanoclusters (BDT: 1,3-benzenedithiol; TPP triphenylphosphine) with x = 0-5. The aim of this work is to shed light on the most favorable doped structures by comparing our results with previously published experimental data. The calculated relative energies, ranging between 0.8 and 10 meV per atom, indicate that several doped Ag29-xAux nanoclusters are likely to co-exist at room temperature. However, only the Au-doped [Ag29-xAux(BDT)12(TPP)4]3- nanoclusters that have direct bon…

Atomically Precise Alkynyl-Protected Metal Nanoclusters as a Model Catalyst: Observation of Promoting Effect of Surface Ligands on Catalysis by Metal Nanoparticles

Metal nanoclusters whose surface ligands are removable while keeping their metal framework structures intact are an ideal system for investigating the influence of surface ligands on catalysis of metal nanoparticles. We report in this work an intermetallic nanocluster containing 62 metal atoms, Au34Ag28(PhC≡C)34, and its use as a model catalyst to explore the importance of surface ligands in promoting catalysis. As revealed by single-crystal diffraction, the 62 metal atoms in the cluster are arranged as a four-concentric-shell Ag@Au17@Ag27@Au17 structure. All phenylalkynyl (PA) ligands are linearly coordinated to the surface Au atoms with staple "PhC≡C-Au-C≡CPh" motif. Compared with reporte…

Photodynamics of a Molecular Water-Soluble Nanocluster Identified as Au130(pMBA)50

Photodynamics of a highly monodisperse sample of a water-soluble gold nanocluster tentatively identified as Au130(pMBA)50 (pMBA = p-mercaptobenzoic acid) was studied by mid-IR transient absorption spectroscopy with visible excitation. The observed long-lived excited states (>1 ns) indicate a molecular behavior of the cluster. By combining the transient absorption data with DFT calculation results the observed relaxation dynamics could be fully explained by identifying several relaxation processes involving singlet and triplet manifolds. The results indicate that the cluster may have interesting transient magnetic properties due to a long-lived triplet population.

Template-Free Supracolloidal Self-Assembly of Atomically Precise Gold Nanoclusters : From 2D Colloidal Crystals to Spherical Capsids

We report supracolloidal self-assembly of atomically precise and strictly monodisperse gold nanoclusters involving p-mercaptobenzoic acid ligands (Au102-pMBA44) under aqueous conditions into hexagonally packed monolayer-thick two-dimensional facetted colloidal crystals (thickness 2.7 nm) and their bending to closed shells leading to spherical capsids (d ca. 200 nm), as controlled by solvent conditions. The 2D colloidal assembly is driven in template-free manner by the spontaneous patchiness of the pMBA ligands around the Au102-pMBA44 nanoclusters preferably towards equatorial plane, thus promoting inter-nanocluster hydrogen bonds and high packing to planar sheets. More generally, the findin…

The Role of Nanocrystal Symmetry in the Crossover Region from Molecular to Metallic Gold Nanoparticles

There is a wide-spread interest to design ambient-stable gold nanoparticles with tailored physico-chemical properties for applications in several areas such as plasmonics, nanomedicine, catalysis, biological imaging, sensing, and nanoelectronics. It has been known for a long time that optical response of gold nanoparticles changes drastically in a cross-over region from 150 to 250 gold atoms, from a “molecule-like” to “metallic” behavior, but insufficient knowledge of atomic structures has precluded detailed computational studies on the underlying mechanisms. Here, we analyze the electronic structure and optical and chiroptical properties of recently reported gold nanoparticles of 144, 146,…

Structural characterization of site-modified nanocapsid with monodispersed gold clusters

AbstractHepatitis E Virus-like particles self-assemble in to noninfectious nanocapsids that are resistant to proteolytic/acidic mucosal delivery conditions. Previously, the nanocapsid was engineered to specifically bind and enter breast cancer cells, where successful tumor targeting was demonstrated in animal models. In the present study, the nanocapsid surface was modified with a solvent-exposed cysteine to conjugate monolayer protected gold nanoclusters (AuNC). Unlike commercially available gold nanoparticles, AuNCs monodisperse in water and are composed of a discrete number of gold atoms, forming a crystalline gold core. Au102pMBA44 (Au102) was an ideal conjugate given its small 2.5 nm s…

Molecule-like photodynamics of Au102(pMBA)44 nanocluster.

Photophysical properties of a water-soluble cluster Au102(pMBA)44 (pMBA = para-mercaptobenzoic acid) are studied by ultrafast time-resolved mid-IR spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations in order to distinguish between molecular and metallic behavior. In the mid-IR transient absorption studies, visible or near-infrared light is used to electronically excite the sample, and the subsequent relaxation is monitored by studying the transient absorption of a vibrational mode in the ligands. Based on these studies, a complete picture of energy relaxation dynamics is obtained: (1) 0.5-1.5 ps electronic relaxation, (2) 6.8 ps vibrational cooling, (3) intersystem crossing from the low…

Dissociative adsorption of water on Au/MgO/Ag(001) from first principles calculations

Abstract The molecular and dissociative adsorption of water on a Ag-supported 1 ML, 2 ML and 3 ML-a six atomic layer-thick MgO films with a single Au adatom is investigated using density functional theory calculations. The obtained results are compared to a bulk MgO(001) surface with an Au atom. On thin films the negatively charged Au strengthens the binding of the polar water molecule due to the attractive Au–H interaction. The adsorption energy trends of OH and H with respect to the film thickness depend on an adsorption site. In the case OH or H binds atop Au on MgO/Ag(001), the adsorption becomes more exothermic with the increasing film thickness, while the reverse trend is seen when th…

Ab Initio Simulation of Clusters: Relativistic Effects in Structure and Bonding of Noble Metal Nanoparticles

Resolving the atomic and electronic structures of nanoclusters represents an important preliminary for their controlled use in future nanotechnologies. Here we show through the comparison of density-functional calculations with high-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy that 1.4 nm nanoparticles of silver (negatively charged clusters of 53 to 58 atoms) are icosahedral-based structures displaying a perfect icosahedral-induced electronic shell structure for Ag 55 − and slightly perturbed shell structures for the neighboring cluster sizes. At variance, 55-atom gold clusters exhibit several isomeric structures of low symmetry, with a largely diminished electronic shell structure. This surprisin…

A 58-electron superatom-complex model for the magic phosphine-protected gold clusters (Schmid-gold, Nanogold®) of 1.4-nm dimension

We have re-investigated the structural identity of the famous gold-phosphine-halide Au:PR3:X compound having 55–69 gold atoms and core size of 1.4 nm (similar to “Schmid gold” or Nanogold®) from the viewpoint of the Superatom-Complex (SAC) model for ligand protected metal clusters, and in consideration of the ligand-adatom groups observed previously for the structurally known 39-atom cluster [Au39(PR3)14Cl6]−1. Density functional theory is used to define the formation energy of various compositions and structures, enabling a comparison of the stability of different cluster-sizes. In agreement with the SAC model, we find a strong correlation between optimal energy and delocalized electron sh…

Towards Atomically Precise Supported Catalysts from Monolayer‐Protected Clusters: The Critical Role of the Support

Abstract Controlling the size and uniformity of metal clusters with atomic precision is essential for fine‐tuning their catalytic properties, however for clusters deposited on supports, such control is challenging. Here, by combining X‐ray absorption spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations, it is shown that supports play a crucial role in the evolution of monolayer‐protected clusters into catalysts. Based on the acidic nature of the support, cluster‐support interactions lead either to fragmentation of the cluster into isolated Au–ligand species or ligand‐free metallic Au0 clusters. On Lewis acidic supports that bind metals strongly, the latter transformation occurs while pre…

[Cu32(PET)24H8Cl2](PPh4)2: A Copper Hydride Nanocluster with a Bisquare Antiprismatic Core

Atomically precise coinage metal (Au, Ag and Cu) nanoclusters (NCs) have been the subject of immense interest for their intriguing structural, photophysical and catalytic properties. However, the synthesis of Cu NCs is highly challenging because of low reduction potential and high reactivity of copper, demonstrating the need for new synthetic methods using appropriate ligand combinations. By designing a diamine-assisted synthetic strategy, here we report the synthesis and total structure characterization of a box-like dianionic Cu NC, [Cu32(PET)24H8Cl2](PPh4)2 co-protected by 2-phenylethanethiolate (PET), hydride and chloride ligands. Its crystal structure comprises a rare bisquare antipris…

Anomalous binding sequence of CO ligands to an anionic triplatinum carbonyl complex

Abstract A systematic density functional theory study on the structures and binding energies of triplatinum carbonyls Pt 3 ( CO ) x q , with x  = 1–6 and q  = 0, −1, reveals an anomalous trend in binding energies of the CO ligands to the triangular platinum core, with the first three ligands strongly bound at terminal Pt sites, followed by weaker bound ligands at Pt–Pt bridge sites for x  = 4–6. This work provides a novel explanation to the anomalous CO binding trend reported in mid-1990s from collision-induced dissociation and photodissociation experiments.

Ag44(EBT)26(TPP)4Nanoclusters With Tailored Molecular and Electronic Structure

Although atomically precise metalloid nanoclusters (NCs) of identical size with distinctly different molecular structures are highly desirable to understand the structural effects on the optical and photophysical properties, their synthesis remains highly challenging. Herein, we employed phosphine and thiol capping ligands featuring appropriate steric effects and synthesized a charge-neutral Ag NC with the formula Ag44 (EBT)26 (TPP)4 (EBT: 2-ethylbenzenethiolate; TPP: triphenylphosphine). The single-crystal X-ray structure reveals that this NC has a hollow metal core of Ag12 @Ag20 and a metal-ligand shell of Ag12 (EBT)26 (TPP)4 . The presence of mixed ligands and long V-shaped metal-ligand …

Selective Acrolein Hydrogenation over Ligand-Protected Gold Clusters : A Venus Flytrap Mechanism

The catalytic partial hydrogenation of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes is an ideal reaction to understand the selectivity between two different functional groups Here the two functional groups are C═C and C═O, and the hydrogenation of C═O is preferentially desired due to the importance of the issuing products, unsaturated alcohols, in fine-chemical industries. Using density functional theory calculations, we investigate the catalytic competency toward this reaction of a Au nanocluster in the presence of protecting ligands that offer higher stability and the possibility for the uniform distribution of size-selected clusters in the catalytic system. meta-Mercaptobenzoic-acid-protected-protected Au …

Quantum size effects in ambient CO oxidation catalysed by ligand-protected gold clusters

Finely dispersed nanometre-scale gold particles are known to catalyse several oxidation reactions in aerobic, ambient conditions. The catalytic activity has been explained by various complementary mechanisms, including support effects, particle-size-dependent metal-insulator transition, charging effects, frontier orbital interactions and geometric fluxionality. We show, by considering a series of robust and structurally well-characterized ligand-protected gold clusters with diameters between 1.2 and 2.4 nm, that electronic quantum size effects, particularly the magnitude of the so-called HOMO-LUMO energy gap, has a decisive role in binding oxygen to the nano-catalyst in an activated form. T…

The Journal of Physical Chemistry C Virtual Special Issue on Metal Clusters, Nanoparticles, and the Physical Chemistry of Catalysis

Electron quantization in arbitrarily shaped gold islands on MgO thin films

Low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy has been employed to analyze the formation of quantum well states (QWS) in two-dimensional gold islands, containing between 50 and 200 atoms, on MgO thin films. The energy position and symmetry of the eigenstates are revealed from conductance spectroscopy and imaging. The majority of the QWS originates from overlapping Au 6p orbitals in the individual atoms and is unoccupied. Their characteristic is already reproduced with simple particle-in-a-box models that account for the symmetry of the islands (rectangular, triangular, or linear). However, better agreement is achieved when considering the true atomic structure of the aggregates via a densit…

Cationic Au Nanoparticle Binding with Plasma Membrane-like Lipid Bilayers: Potential Mechanism for Spontaneous Permeation to Cells Revealed by Atomistic Simulations

Despite being chemically inert as a bulk material, nanoscale gold can pose harmful side effects to living organisms. In particular, cationic Au nanoparticles (AuNP+) of 2 nm diameter or less permeate readily through plasma membranes and induce cell death. We report atomistic simulations of cationic Au nanoparticles interacting with realistic membranes and explicit solvent using a model system that comprises two cellular compartments, extracellular and cytosolic, divided by two asymmetric lipid bilayers. The membrane-AuNP+ binding and membrane reorganization processes are discovered to be governed by cooperative effects where AuNP+, counterions, water, and the two membrane leaflets all contr…

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

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…

Electron quantization in arbitrarily shaped Au islands on MgO thin films

Low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy has been employed to analyze the formation of quantum well states (QWS) in two-dimensional gold islands, containing between 50 and 200 atoms, on MgO thin films. The energy position and symmetry of the eigenstates are revealed from conductance spectroscopy and imaging. The majority of the QWS originates from overlapping Au 6p orbitals in the individual atoms and is unoccupied. Their characteristic is already reproduced with simple particle-in-a-box models that account for the symmetry of the islands (rectangular, triangular, or linear). However, better agreement is achieved when considering the true atomic structure of the aggregates via a densit…

Isomer dynamics of the [Au6(NHC-S)4]2+ nanocluster

The use of metal nanoclusters is strongly reliant on their size and configuration; hence, studying the potential isomers of a cluster is extremely beneficial in understanding their performance. In general, the prediction and identification of isomer structures and their properties can be challenging and computationally expensive. Our work describes an investigation to find local isomers for the previously experimentally characterized small gold cluster [Au6(NHC-S)4]2+ protected by bidentate mixed carbene-thiolate ligands. We employ the molecular dynamics simulation method where the interatomic forces are calculated from density functional theory. We find several isomers that are more stable…

Evidence for Graphene Edges Beyond Zigzag and Armchair

The edges of nanoscopic objects determine most of their properties. For this reason the edges of honeycomb carbon--always considered either zigzag- or armchair-like--need special attention. In this report we provide experimental evidence confirming a previous unexpected prediction: zigzag is a metastable edge, as its planar reconstruction lowers energy and forms the most stable graphene edge. Our evidence is based on re-analyzing a recent experiment. Since the reconstructed edge, along with other unconventional edges we discuss, has distinct chemical properties, this discovery urges for care in experiments and theory--we must enter the realm beyond zigzag and armchair.

A method for structure prediction of metal-ligand interfaces of hybrid nanoparticles

Hybrid metal nanoparticles, consisting of a nano-crystalline metal core and a protecting shell of organic ligand molecules, have applications in diverse areas such as biolabeling, catalysis, nanomedicine, and solar energy. Despite a rapidly growing database of experimentally determined atom-precise nanoparticle structures and their properties, there has been no successful, systematic way to predict the atomistic structure of the metal-ligand interface. Here, we devise and validate a general method to predict the structure of the metal-ligand interface of ligand-stabilized gold and silver nanoparticles, based on information about local chemical environments of atoms in experimental data. In …

Computational study of linear carbon chains on gold and silver surfaces

Abstract Density-functional-theory calculations were carried out for hydrogen capped linear carbon chains, polyynes and cumulenes, adsorbed dissociatively on the (1 1 1) and (2 1 1) surfaces of gold and silver. In the studied adsorption reactions, carbon–hydrogen bonds are broken and covalent carbon–metal bonds are created. The adsorption of cumulenes is highly endothermic, whereas the adsorption of polyynes is near thermoneutral. Also, the hydrogenation of adsorbed polyynyl radicals (·C n H) into adsorbed cumulene carbenes (:C n H 2 ) was investigated, which was found to be exothermic on both metals. Vibrational calculations were conducted on the adsorption systems, and the results were co…

Embryonic Growth of Face-Center-Cubic Silver Nanoclusters Shaped in Nearly Perfect Half-Cubes and Cubes.

Demonstrated herein are the preparation and crystallographic characterization of the family of fcc silver nanoclusters from Nichol’s cube to Rubik’s cube and beyond via ligand-control (thiolates and phosphines in this case). The basic building block is our previously reported fcc cluster [Ag14(SPhF2)12(PPh3)8] (1). The metal frameworks of [Ag38(SPhF2)26(PR′3)8] (22) and [Ag63(SPhF2)36(PR′3)8]+ (23), where HSPhF2 = 3,4-difluorothiophenol and R′ = alkyl/aryl, are composed of 2 × 2 = 4 and 2 × 2 × 2 = 8 metal cubes of 1, respectively. All serial clusters share similar surface structural features. The thiolate ligands cap the six faces and the 12 edges of the cube (or half cube) while the phosp…

Isophorone on Au/MgO/Ag(001) : Physisorption with Electrostatic Site Selection

We report a computational study of isophorone C9H14O adsorption on a Ag(001)-supported ultrathin MgO film with Au adatoms and clusters employing density functional theory calculations. The calculations show that the keto form of isophorone is more stable than the enol tautomers both in gas phase and on the MgO/Ag(001) surface. The interaction between the keto isophorone and step and terrace sites of MgO/Ag(001) displays long interaction distances, relatively weakly exothermic adsorption energies, lack of charge transfer, and minor changes in the density of states, all of which indicate that the molecule merely physisorbs on the surface. The step sites are energetically preferred adsorption …

Highly Robust but Surface-Active : An N-Heterocyclic Carbene-Stabilized Au25 Nanocluster

Surface organic ligands play a critical role in stabilizing atomically precise metal nanoclusters in solutions. However, it is still challenging to prepare highly robust ligated metal nanoclusters that are surface-active for liquid-phase catalysis without any pre-treatment. Now, an N-heterocyclic carbene-stabilized Au25 nanocluster with high thermal and air stabilities is presented as a homogenous catalyst for cycloisomerization of alkynyl amines to indoles. The nanocluster, characterized as [Au25(iPr2-bimy)10Br7]2+ (iPr2-bimy=1,3-diisopropylbenzimidazolin-2-ylidene) (1), was synthesized by direct reduction of AuSMe2Cl and iPr2-bimyAuBr with NaBH4 in one pot. X-ray crystallization analysis …

Tertiary Chiral Nanostructures from C‐H∙∙∙F Directed Assembly of Chiroptical Superatoms

Chiral hierarchical structures are universal in nature, whereas quite challenging to mimic in man-made synthesis. We report herein the synthesis and structure of tertiary chiral nanostructures with 100% optical purity. A novel synthetic strategy, using chiral reducing agent, R and S -BINAPCuBH 4 (BINAP is 2,2'-Bis(diphenylphosphino)-1,1'-binaphthyl), is developed to access to atomically precise, intrinsically chiral [Au 7 Ag 6 Cu 2 ( R - or S -BINAP) 3 (SCH 2 Ph) 6 ]SbF 6 nanoclusters in one-pot synthesis. The clusters represent the first tri-metallic superatoms with inherent chirality and fair stability. Both metal distribution (primary) and ligand arrangement (secondary) of the enantiomer…

A Homoleptic Alkynyl‐Ligated [Au 13 Ag 16 L 24 ] 3− Cluster as a Catalytically Active Eight‐Electron Superatom

A new alkynylated cluster [Au13 Ag16 (C10 H6 NO)24 ]3- is prepared by a NaBH4 mediated reduction method. The AuAg clusters are confirmed by sophisticated characterization techniques. It has a unique "Aucenter @Ag12 @Au12 Ag4 " metal framework which is protected by 24 atypical alkyne ligands L (L=C10 H6 NO). The ligands construct a unique type of motif L-(Ag)-Au-(Ag)-L at the cluster interface, where the alkyne (C≡C) group of each L was linked by sharing an Au atom through the σ bonds and each C≡C group was discretely connected to a chemically different Ag atom (Agicosahedral /Agcap ) through π bonds. The electronic and optical properties of [Au13 Ag16 L24 ]3- were studied. DFT characterized…

Au Adsorption on Regular and Defected Thin MgO(100) Films Supported by Mo

Using density functional theory we studied systematically a Au atom adsorption on a Mo-supported regular and defected ultrathin MgO film with 1 to 5 ML thickness. On Mo(100) grown regular MgO Au prefers to adsorb at a hollow site instead of an O site found for single-crystal MgO. The metal support also enhances Au adsorption energy in agreement with the earlier theoretical results. Adsorption energy decreases with increasing film thickness being, however, even in the case of 5 ML thick MgO much higher than that on single-crystal MgO. The Bader analysis was performed to estimate the spatial distribution of charge in different cases. The results show charge transfer (0.7−0.8 e) to the Au atom…

How many gold atoms make gold metal?

It is well known that a piece of gold is an excellent metal: it conducts heat and electricity, it is malleable to work out for jewellery or thin coatings, and it has the characteristic golden colour. How do these everyday properties – familiar from our macroscopic world – change when a nanometre-size chunk of gold contains only 100, 200 or 300 atoms? nonPeerReviewed

Charging of atoms, clusters, and molecules on metal-supported oxides: A general and long-ranged phenomenon

The density-functional theory is used to investigate the adsorption of Au atoms, Au clusters, and NO2 molecules on transition-metal-supported oxides. As compared to unsupported oxides, the adsorbates on supported oxide films are charged and experience a higher adsorption energy. The origin of the effect is explored by considering two different oxides (MgO and Al2O3) and a range of supporting metals. Moreover, the limits of the enhancement are probed by explicit calculations for thick MgO films and low coverage. The long-range character of the phenomenon is attributed to electrostatic polarization. The absolute strength depends on several contributions and their relative importance changes w…

Analysis of the Electronic Structure of Non-Spherical Ligand-Protected Metal Nanoclusters: The Case of a Box-Like Ag67

In this work we introduce a new strategy to investigate the electronic shell structure of ligand-protected metal nanoclusters of polyhedral core shape. The central idea is to identify the symmetry of the Kohn–Sham molecular orbitals of an atomistic structure based on their projection onto the electronic states of a jellium system with a similar shape of the background charge density. Herein, we study the connection between a reduced atomistic model of the recently reported box-like [Ag67(SR)32(PR3)8]3+ nanocluster and a jellium box consisting of 32 free electrons. With this approach, we determine the symmetry of electronic states of the metal core and identify those that are involved in the…

Cd12Ag32(SePh)36 : Non-Noble Metal Doped Silver Nanoclusters

While there are numerous recent reports on doping of a ligand-protected noble metal nanocluster (e.g., Au and Ag) with another noble metal, non-noble metal (e.g., Cd) doping remains challenging. Here, we design a phosphine-assisted synthetic strategy and synthesize a Cd doped Ag nanocluster, Cd12Ag32(SePh)36 (SePh: selenophenolate), which exhibits characteristic UV–vis absorption features and rare near-infrared (NIR) photoluminescence at ∼1020 nm. The X-ray single crystal structure reveals an asymmetric two-shell Ag4@Ag24 metal kernel protected by four nonplanar Cd3Ag(SePh)9 metal–ligand frameworks. Furthermore, the electronic structure analysis shows that the cluster is a 20-electron “supe…

Magic triangular and tetrahedral clusters

Using the methods of density functional theory and the jellium model we show that clusters with triangular [in two dimensions (2D)] or tetrahedral [in three dimensions (3D)] shapes have a strong shell structure and enhanced stability. Moreover, the shell closings correspond to the lowest magic numbers of a 2D and 3D harmonic oscillator and at the same time to the number of divalent atoms in close-packed triangles and tetrahedrons. Ab initio molecular dynamics simulations for Na and Mg clusters support the results of the jellium model.

Robust, Highly Luminescent Au13 Superatoms Protected by N-Heterocyclic Carbenes

Gold superatom nanoclusters stabilized entirely by N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) and halides are reported. The reduction of well-defined NHC–Au–Cl complexes produces clusters comprised of an icosahedral Au13 core surrounded by a symmetrical arrangement of nine NHCs and three chlorides. X-ray crystallography shows that the clusters are characterized by multiple CH−π and π–π interactions, which rigidify the ligand and likely contribute to the exceptionally high photoluminescent quantum yields observed, up to 16.0%, which is significantly greater than that of the most luminescent ligand-protected Au13 superatom cluster. Density functional theory analysis suggests that clusters are 8-electron …

Electronic structure of Gold, Aluminum and Gallium Superatom Complexes

Using ab initio computational techniques on crystal determined clusters, we report on the similarities and differences of Al${}_{50}$(C${}_{5}$(CH${}_{3}{{)}_{5})}_{12}$, Ga${}_{23}$(N(Si(CH${}_{3}{)}_{3}$)${}_{2}$)${}_{11}$, and Au${}_{102}$(SC${}_{7}$O${}_{2}$H${}_{5}$)${}_{44}$ ligand-protected clusters. Each of the ligand-protected clusters in this study shows a similar stable character which can be described via an electronic shell model. We show here that the same type of analysis leads consistently to derivation of a superatomic electronic counting rule, independently of the metal and ligand compositions. One can define the cluster core as the set of atoms where delocalized single-an…

Nondestructive Size Determination of Thiol-Stabilized Gold Nanoclusters in Solution by Diffusion Ordered NMR Spectroscopy

Diffusion ordered NMR spectroscopy (DOSY) was used as an analytical tool to estimate the size of thiol-stabilized gold nanoclusters in solution, namely, phenylethanethiol (PET) stabilized Au25(PET)18, Au38(PET)24, and Au144(PET)60. This was achieved by determining the diffusion coefficient and hydrodynamic radius from solution samples that were confirmed to be monodispersed by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. The average cluster diameters obtained by this technique were estimated to be 1.7, 2.2, and 3.1 nm for the Au25(PET)18, Au38(PET)24, and Au144(PET)60 nanoclusters, respectively, which were shown to agree well with the average diameters of the corresponding single crystal or t…

Preface to the Special Issue “ISSPIC XVIII: International Symposium on Small Particles and Inorganic Clusters 2016”

Covalent and non-covalent coupling of a Au102 nanocluster with a fluorophore : energy transfer, quenching and intracellular pH sensing

Interactions between an atomically precise gold nanocluster Au102(p-MBA)44 (p-MBA = para mercaptobenzoic acid) and a fluorescent organic dye molecule (KU, azadioxatriangulenium) are studied. In solution, the constituents form spontaneously a weakly bound complex leading to quenching of fluorescence of the KU dye via energy transfer. The KU can be separated from the complex by lowering pH, leading to recovery of fluorescence, which forms a basis for an optical reversible pH sensor. However, the sensor is not a stable entity, which could be delivered inside cells. For this purpose, a covalently bound hybrid is synthesized by linking the KU dye to the ligand layer of the cluster via an ester b…

Structure and dynamics of CaO films: A computational study of an effect of external static electric field

Oxide films play a significant role in a wide range of industrial fields, mostly due to the thickness-dependent variation of their properties. Recently, it has been proposed based on the experimental study that carrier transport in CaO films proceeds via strong phonon excitations with a variable signal depending on the film thickness. In this paper, we report a detailed investigation in the frame of the density functional theory of structural and electronic properties of freestanding and Mo(100)-supported CaO films, as well as phonons therein, as functions of the film thickness and intensity of the external static electric field. Our calculations demonstrate that phonon frequencies negligib…

Copper Induces a Core Plasmon in Intermetallic Au(144,145)–xCux(SR)60 Nanoclusters

The electronic structure and optical absorption spectra of intermetallic thiol-stabilized gold-copper clusters, having 144-145 metal atoms and 60 thiols, were studied by ab initio computations. The widely known icosahedral-based cluster model from the work of Lopez-Acevedo et al. (2009) was used, and clusters doped with one to 30 copper atoms were considered. When doped inside the metal core, copper induces dramatic changes in the optical spectrum as compared to the previously studied all-gold Au144(SR)60. An intense broad absorption peak develops in the range 535-587 nm depending on the amount of doping and doping sites. This result agrees very well with recent experiments by the Dass grou…

NHC-Stabilized Au10 Nanoclusters and Their Conversion to Au25 Nanoclusters

Herein, we describe the synthesis of a toroidal Au10 cluster stabilized by N-heterocyclic carbene and halide ligands via reduction of the corresponding NHC−Au−X complexes (X = Cl, Br, I). The significant effect of the halide ligands on the formation, stability, and further conversions of these clusters is presented. While solutions of the chloride derivatives of Au10 show no change even upon heating, the bromide derivative readily undergoes conversion to form a biicosahedral Au25 cluster at room temperature. For the iodide derivative, the formation of a significant amount of Au25 was observed even upon the reduction of NHC−Au−I. The isolated bromide derivative of the Au25 cluster displays a…

Computer simulation of disordering and premelting of low-index faces of copper.

Molecular dynamics and the effective-medium theory have been applied to investigate the structure and dynamics of (110), (100), and (111) faces of copper in the whole temperature range from 0 K up to the bulk melting point, which has been determined to be 1240\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}25 K. The observed order in the surface stability follows the order in the packing density. (110) disorders first via anharmonic effects (up to 700 K), then by vacancy-adatom formation and finally by premelting of the surface at about 1200 K. The (110) solid-melt interface is anisotropic and broadened, having a tendency to form small fluctuating (111) facets in equilibrium, which is suggested to be the atomi…

On the Structure of Thiolate-Protected Au25

Density functional theory is used to explore the structure of Au25(RS)18. The preferred structure consists of an icosahedral Au13 core protected by 6 RS-Au-RS-Au-RS units. The enhanced stability of the structure as an anion is found to originate from closure of an eight-electron shell for delocalized Au(6s) electrons. The evaluated XRD pattern and optical spectra are in good agreement with experimental data.

Formation of Gold(I) Edge Oxide at Flat Gold Nanoclusters on an Ultrathin MgO Film under Ambient Conditions

Many active gold catalysts are prepared onreducible oxides, and strong interactions between the supportand the gold particle may create active sites at the peripheryclose to the particle–support interface. These interactionsmay also include charge transfer to or from the particle. Forpurely geometric reasons, small particles have a high propor-tion of low-coordinated edge and corner atoms that might actas reaction centers. Also, thermal effects from localized softphonon modes at particle edges may contribute to thelowering of critical reaction barriers.Lately, a large amount of work has been conducted toelucidate the properties of gold clusters on ultrathin (a fewmonolayers (ML) thick) MgO …

Time-dependent density-functional theory in the projector augmented-wave method

We present the implementation of the time-dependent density-functional theory both in linear-response and in time-propagation formalisms using the projector augmented-wave method in real-space grids. The two technically very different methods are compared in the linear-response regime where we found perfect agreement in the calculated photoabsorption spectra. We discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the two methods as well as their convergence properties. We demonstrate different applications of the methods by calculating excitation energies and excited state Born–Oppenheimer potential surfaces for a set of atoms and molecules with the linear-response method and by calculating nonlinear e…

Ligand Ratio Plays a Critical Role in the Design of Optimal Multifunctional Gold Nanoclusters for Targeted Gastric Cancer Therapy

Nanodrug delivery systems (NDDSs) based on water-soluble and atomically precise gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) are under the spotlight due to their great potential in cancer theranostics. Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most aggressive cancers with a low early diagnosis rate, with drug therapy being the primary means to overcome its increasing incidence. In this work, we designed and characterized a set of 28 targeted nanosystems based on Au144(p-MBA)60 (p-MBA = para-mercaptobenzoic acid) nanocluster to be potentially employed as combination therapy in GC treatment. The proposed multifunctional AuNCs are functionalized with cytotoxic drugs (5-fluorouracil and epirubicin) or inhibitors of diffe…

Linear Nuclei: A Density Functional Interpretation

We show that linear shape isomers of small even-even nuclei exist with nearly any internucleon interactions. The shapes of the linear isomers look like chains of alpha-particles, but single-particle spectrum reveals that alpha-particle interpretation is not needed. Indeed, the same shapes are obtained even with noninteracting particles in a rectangular cavity. Linear shape isomers are shown to exist also in metal clusters.

The Role of Donor and Acceptor Substituents on the Nonlinear Optical Properties of Gold Nanoclusters

In recent years, a large number of monolayer-protected clusters (MPCs) have been studied by means of single crystal structure characterization. A central aspect of research on MPCs is the correlation of their interesting optical properties with structural features and the formulation of a theoretical framework that allows interpretation of their unique properties. For this, superatom and jellium models have been proven successful. Little attention, however, has been paid to the influence of the protecting ligands. Here, we investigate the effect of changes in [Au25(SR)18-x(SR′)x]−, where SR′ represents a para-substituted thiophenolate derivative (SPh-4-X). We computed the first hyperpolariz…

Chirality and electronic structure of the thiolate-protected Au38 nanocluster.

Structural, electronic, and optical properties of the thiolate-protected Au(38)(SR)(24) cluster are studied by density-functional theory computations (R = CH(3) and R = C(6)H(13)) and by powder X-ray crystallography (R = C(12)H(25)). A low-energy structure which can be written as Au(23)@(Au(SR)(2))(3)(Au(2)(SR)(3))(6) having a bi-icosahedral core and a chiral arrangement of the protecting gold-thiolate Au(x)(SR)(y) units yields an excellent match between the computed (for R = C(6)H(13)) and measured (for R = C(12)H(25)) powder X-ray diffraction function. We interpret in detail the electronic structure of the Au(23) core by using a particle-in-a-cylinder model. Although the alkane thiolate l…

Conformation and dynamics of the ligand shell of a water-soluble Au102 nanoparticle

Inorganic nanoparticles, stabilized by a passivating layer of organic molecules, form a versatile class of nanostructured materials with potential applications in material chemistry, nanoscale physics, nanomedicine and structural biology. While the structure of the nanoparticle core is often known to atomic precision, gaining precise structural and dynamical information on the organic layer poses a major challenge. Here we report a full assignment of 1H and 13C NMR shifts to all ligands of a water-soluble, atomically precise, 102-atom gold nanoparticle stabilized by 44 para-mercaptobenzoic acid ligands in solution, by using a combination of multidimensional NMR methods, density functional t…

From Symmetry Breaking to Unraveling the Origin of the Chirality of Ligated Au13Cu2 Nanoclusters

A general method, using mixed ligands (here diphosphines and thiolates) is devised to turn an achiral metal cluster, Au13Cu2, into an enantiomeric pair by breaking (lowering) the overall molecular symmetry with the ligands. Using an achiral diphosphine, a racemic [Au13Cu2(DPPP)3(SPy)6]+ was prepared which crystallizes in centrosymmetric space groups. Using chiral diphosphines, enantioselective synthesis of an optically pure, enantiomeric pair of [Au13Cu2((2r,4r)/(2s,4s)‐BDPP)3(SPy)6]+ was achieved in one pot. Their circular dichroism (CD) spectra give perfect mirror images in the range of 250–500 nm with maximum anisotropy factors of 1.2×10−3. DFT calculations provided good correlations wit…

Ionization potential of Al6 and Al7 as a function of temperature

The temperature-depence of the ionization potential of Al6 and Al7 clusters is studied by using ab initio molecular dynamics. The threshold regions of theoretical photoionization efficiency curves are obtained from the calculated ionization potential distributions by integration and the determined ionization potentials are compared with the experimental ones. Two important effects, which complicate the determination of ionization potential from photoionization efficiency curves, are observed: the thermal tail effect and the isomerization. Also a link between the adiabatic ionization potential and the threshold of the photoionization efficiency curve is discussed. In the case of Al7, this of…

Protected but Accessible: Oxygen Activation by a Calixarene-Stabilized Undecagold Cluster

DFT computations show that calixarenes stabilize subnanometer Au11 clusters allowing access of small molecules like O2 to reactive metal sites in the core. Maximum of three dioxygen molecules can bind to the cluster, and they are activated to a superoxo O2(-) state. This study predicts that gold clusters could act as viable oxidation catalysts at ambient conditions based on similar principles as the metal centers in enzymes.

Liquid-liquid phase coexistence in gold clusters. 2D or not 2D?

The thermodynamics of gold cluster anions (${\mathrm{Au}}_{N}^{\ensuremath{-}}$, $N=11,\dots{},14$) is investigated using quantum molecular dynamics. Our simulations suggest that ${\mathrm{Au}}_{N}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ may exhibit a novel, freestanding planar liquid phase which dynamically coexists with a normal three-dimensional liquid. Upon cooling with experimentally realizable cooling rates, the entropy-favored three-dimensional liquid clusters often supercool and solidify into the ``wrong'' dimensionality. This indicates that experimental validation of theoretically predicted ${\mathrm{Au}}_{N}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ ground states might be more complicated than hitherto expected.

Silver Sulfide Nanoclusters and the Superatom Model

The superatom model of electron-shell closings has been widely used to explain the stability of noble-metal nanoclusters of few nanometers, including thiolate-protected Au and Ag nanoclusters. The presence of core sulfur atoms in silver sulfide (Ag–S) nanoclusters renders them a class of clusters with distinctive properties as compared to typical noble-metal clusters. Here, it is natural to ask whether the superatom model is still applicable for the Ag–S nanoclusters with mixed metal and nonmetal core atoms. To address this question, we applied density functional simulations to analyze a series of Ag–S nanoclusters: Ag14S(SPh)12(PPh3)8, Ag14(SC6H3F2)12(PPh3)8, Ag70S16(SPh)34(PhCO2)4(triphos…

Crystal Structures and Density Functional Theory Calculations of o-and p-Nitroaniline Derivatives: Combined Effect of Hydrogen Bonding and aromatic interactions on dimerization energy

The interplay of strong and weak hydrogen bonds, dipole–dipole interactions, and aromatic interactions of o- and p-nitroaniline derivatives was studied by combining crystal structure analysis and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Crystal structures of four 2-nitroaniline derivatives, 2-((2-nitrophenyl)amino)ethyl methanesulfonate (1A), 2-((2-nitrophenyl)amino)ethyl 4-methylbenzenesulfonate (2A), N,N′-((1,3-phenylenebis(oxy))bis(ethane-2,1-diyl))bis(2-nitroaniline) (3A), and N-(2-chloroethyl)-2-nitroaniline (4A), and crystal structures of three 4-nitroaniline derivatives, 2-((4-nitrophenyl)amino)ethyl methanesulfonate (1B), 2-((4-nitrophenyl)amino)ethyl 4-methylbenzenesulfonate (…

Characterizing low-coordinated atoms at the periphery of MgO-supported Au islands using scanning tunneling microscopy and electronic structure calculations

The perimeter of oxide-supported metal particles is suggested to be of pivotal importance for various catalytic processes. To elucidate the underlying effects, the electronic properties of edge and corner atoms of planar Au clusters on MgO/Ag(001) thin films have been analyzed with scanning tunneling microscopy and electronic structure calculations. The low-coordinated perimeter atoms are characterized by a high density of $s$-derived states at the Fermi level. Those states accommodate transfer electrons from the MgO/Ag substrate, which render the perimeter atoms negatively charged. In contrast, the inner atoms of the island are not affected by the charge transfer and remain neutral. This c…

Atomic and electronic structure of gold clusters: understanding flakes, cages and superatoms from simple concepts.

Atomic structure and electronic structure are intimately interrelated properties of nanoclusters and nanoparticles, defining their stability, electronic, optical and chemical properties, in other words, their usability as potential components for nanoscale devices. This tutorial review attempts to describe the development in understanding the structures of bare and ligand-protected gold clusters over the past decade, based on selected density-functional-theory calculations. This review should be of interest both to newcomers in the field and to an interdisciplinary community of researchers working in synthesis, characterization and utilization of ligand-protected gold clusters.

Symmetry breaking in ligand-protected gold clusters probed by nonlinear optics

The first hyperpolarizabilities of [Au25(SR)18](-1/0) and Au38(SR)24 clusters were determined by Hyper-Rayleigh Scattering. A strong dependence on the molecular symmetry was observed, and we explore two strategies to destroy the center of inversion in [Au25(SR)18](-1/0), protection by chiral ligands and alloying of the cluster with silver. This may open new avenues to applications of Au : SR clusters in second-order nonlinear optics.

The Al 50 Cp* 12 Cluster – A 138‐Electron Closed Shell ( L = 6) Superatom

Metal clusters stabilized by a surface ligand shell represent an interesting intermediate state of matter between molecular metal-ligand complexes and bulk metal. Such "metalloid" clusters are characterized by the balance between metal-metal bonds in the core and metal-ligand bonds at the exterior of the cluster. In previous studies, the electronic stability for the Al50Cp*(12) cluster was not fully understood. We show here that the known cluster Al50Cp*(12) can be considered as an analogue to a giant atom ("superatom") with 138 sp electrons organized in concentric angular momentum shells up to L = 6 symmetry.

Electronic structure calculations with GPAW: a real-space implementation of the projector augmented-wave method.

Electronic structure calculations have become an indispensable tool in many areas of materials science and quantum chemistry. Even though the Kohn-Sham formulation of the density-functional theory (DFT) simplifies the many-body problem significantly, one is still confronted with several numerical challenges. In this article we present the projector augmented-wave (PAW) method as implemented in the GPAW program package (https://wiki.fysik.dtu.dk/gpaw) using a uniform real-space grid representation of the electronic wavefunctions. Compared to more traditional plane wave or localized basis set approaches, real-space grids offer several advantages, most notably good computational scalability an…

Ionization potential of aluminum clusters

Structure, electronic structure, and ionization potential of aluminum clusters of 2–23 atoms are studied with a total energy method based on the density-functional theory. The calculated adiabatic ionization potentials agree remarkably well with the data from threshold photoionization measurements. The analysis of results gives insight into hybridization effects in the smallest clusters as well as reveals certain clusters that exhibit a clear jellium-type shell structure. An explanation of the experimental results in the size region of 12–23 atoms is given in terms of coexisting, competing icosahedral, decahedral, and fcc-based clusters. @S0163-1829~98!00228-8#

Carbon Dioxide Activation and Reaction Induced by Electron Transfer at an Oxide-Metal Interface

A model system has been created to shuttle electrons through a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) structure to induce the formation of a CO2 anion radical from adsorbed gas-phase carbon dioxide that subsequently reacts to form an oxalate species. The process is completely reversible, and thus allows the elementary steps involved to be studied at the atomic level. The oxalate species at the MIM interface have been identified locally by scanning tunneling microscopy, chemically by IR spectroscopy, and their formation verified by density functional calculations.

Impacts of Copper Position on the Electronic Structure of [Au25-xCux(SH)18]− Nanoclusters

Here, we use density functional theory to model the impact of heteroatom position on the optoelectronic properties of mixed metal nanoclusters. First, we consider the well-described [Au25(SH)18]− motif, and substitute Cu atoms at the three geometrically unique positions within the cluster. These clusters are atomically precise and show an electronic structure that is a function of both composition and heteroatom position. We then model clusters containing Cu substitutions at two positions, and demonstrate an additional and significant impact from heteroatom proximity with respect to one another. For each system, we report the formation energy, HOMO–LUMO gap, and energy level structure, and …

The gold-sulfur interface at the nanoscale.

Thiolate-protected gold surfaces and interfaces, relevant for self-assembled monolayers of organic molecules on gold, for passivated gold nanoclusters and for molecule-gold junctions, are archetypal systems in various fields of current nanoscience research, materials science, inorganic chemistry and surface science. Understanding this interface at the nanometre scale is essential for a wide range of potential applications for site-specific bioconjugate labelling and sensing, drug delivery and medical therapy, functionalization of gold surfaces for sensing, molecular recognition and molecular electronics, and gold nanoparticle catalysis. During the past five years, considerable experimental …

55-Atom clusters of silver and gold: Symmetry breaking by relativistic effects

Abstract Anionic 55-atom clusters of gold and silver are studied using density functional theory, scalar relativistic ab initio pseudopotentials and self-consistent generalized gradient corrections. An almost perfect icosahedron is found to be the clear ground state of Ag 55 - , and its electronic density of states agrees almost perfectly with recently measured high-resolution photoelectron spectra, up to the magnitude of the splitting of the highest free-electron shells by the Ih crystal field. A comparison between theory and a recent experiment allows one to assign icosahedral-based structures also for the Ag 57 - cluster. On the other hand, the Au 55 - cluster has several close-lying low…

Solvent driven formation of silver embedded resorcinarene nanorods

Silver complexes of resorcinarene bis-crown-5 were observed to arrange into nanorods of 2.4 nm in diameter. The left- and right-handed isomers of the inherently chiral resorcinarene host are separated into their own entity in the self-assembly process with the periphery of the nanorods consisting of silver cations included in the cavity.

Crystal Structures and Density Functional Theory Calculations of o-and p-Nitroaniline Derivatives: Combined Effect of Hydrogen Bonding and aromatic interactions on dimerization energy

The interplay of strong and weak hydrogen bonds, dipole–dipole interactions, and aromatic interactions of o- and p-nitroaniline derivatives was studied by combining crystal structure analysis and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Crystal structures of four 2-nitroaniline derivatives, 2-((2-nitrophenyl)amino)ethyl methanesulfonate (1A), 2-((2-nitrophenyl)amino)ethyl 4-methylbenzenesulfonate (2A), N,N′-((1,3-phenylenebis(oxy))bis(ethane-2,1-diyl))bis(2-nitroaniline) (3A), and N-(2-chloroethyl)-2-nitroaniline (4A), and crystal structures of three 4-nitroaniline derivatives, 2-((4-nitrophenyl)amino)ethyl methanesulfonate (1B), 2-((4-nitrophenyl)amino)ethyl 4-methylbenzenesulfonate (…

Density functional study of gold atoms and clusters on a graphite (0001) surface with defects

Adsorption of gold atoms and clusters $(N=6)$ on a graphite (0001) surface with defects has been studied using density functional theory. In addition to perfect graphite (0001), three types of surface defects have been considered: a surface vacancy (hole), a pyridinelike defect comprising three grouped nitrogen atoms, and a substitutional doping by N or B. Results for Au and ${\mathrm{Au}}_{6}$ indicate that the surface vacancy can form chemical bonds with Au as the three nearby carbons align their dangling bonds towards the gold particle (binding energy 2.4--$2.6\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{eV}$). A similar chemically saturated holelike construction with three pyridinic N atoms resul…

A Computational Study of Adsorption of CO2, SO2, and H2CO on Free-Standing and Molybdenum-Supported CaO Films

Oxide films play a significant role in a wide range of fields from catalysis to solar cell materials. CaO films are promising sorbents for many environmentally harmful molecules. Here, we report a systematic investigation of adsorption of CO2, SO2, and H2CO on bulk and Mo-supported CaO(100) films using density functional theory. Significant effects on adsorption energy, charge transfer to the molecules, and degree of the C−O bond activation were demonstrated on Mo-supported CaO films by changing the film thickness, composition, and the strength and direction of an applied external electric field. These findings are relevant for interpreting results from scanning tunneling microscopy of smal…

Covalently linked multimers of gold nanoclusters Au102(p-MBA)44 and Au∼250(p-MBA)n

We present the synthesis, separation, and characterization of covalently-bound multimers of para-mercaptobenzoic acid (p-MBA) protected gold nanoclusters. The multimers were synthesized by performing a ligand-exchange reaction of a pre-characterized Au102(p-MBA)44 nanocluster with biphenyl-4,4′-dithiol (BPDT). The reaction products were separated using gel electrophoresis yielding several distinct bands. The bands were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealing monomer, dimer, and trimer fractions of the nanocluster. TEM analysis of dimers in combination with molecular dynamics simulations suggest that the nanoclusters are covalently bound via a disulfide bridge between BP…

Solid state halogen bonded networks vs. dynamic assemblies in solution: explaining N⋯X interactions of multivalent building blocks

Tetrapyridine functionalized resorcinarene macrocycles were used as multivalent building blocks for the construction of halogen bonded networks with aryl halide linkers. In the solid state, resorcinarene macrocycles and aryl halide linker molecules assembled into interpenetrated, multidimensional halogen bonded networks with porous structure caused by the 3D block scaffold of the resorcinarenes. 19F NMR spectroscopy proved halogen bond formation also in solution, as either upfield or downfield shifts were observed depending on the bivalent or monovalent halogen bond binding mode. The binding mode in solution was explained by density functional theory computations. peerReviewed

Divide and Protect: Passivating Cu(111) by Cu-(benzotriazole)2

Binding of benzotriazolate anion (BTA) to copper complexes and Cu(111) surface was investigated by density functional theory calculations. [BTACuBTA]1– was found to be a very stable complex that BT...

Covalently linked multimers of gold nanoclusters Au102(p-MBA)44and Au∼250(p-MBA)n

We present the synthesis, separation, and characterization of covalently-bound multimers of para-mercaptobenzoic acid (p-MBA) protected gold nanoclusters. The multimers were synthesized by performing a ligand-exchange reaction of a pre-characterized Au102(p-MBA)44 nanocluster with biphenyl-4,4′-dithiol (BPDT). The reaction products were separated using gel electrophoresis yielding several distinct bands. The bands were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealing monomer, dimer, and trimer fractions of the nanocluster. TEM analysis of dimers in combination with molecular dynamics simulations suggest that the nanoclusters are covalently bound via a disulfide bridge between BP…

Monte Carlo Simulations of Au38(SCH3)24 Nanocluster Using Distance-Based Machine Learning Methods

We present an implementation of distance-based machine learning (ML) methods to create a realistic atomistic interaction potential to be used in Monte Carlo simulations of thermal dynamics of thiol...

Surface Coordination of Multiple Ligands Endows N‐Heterocyclic Carbene‐Stabilized Gold Nanoclusters with High Robustness and Surface Reactivity

Deciphering the molecular pictures of the multi-component and non-periodic organic-inorganic interlayer is a grand technical challenge. Here we show that the atomic arrangement of hybrid surface ligands on metal nanoparticles can be precisely quantified through comprehensive characterization of a novel gold cluster, Au 44 ( i Pr 2 -bimy) 9 (PA) 6 Br 8 , which features three types of ligands, namely, carbene (1,3-diisopropylbenzimidazolin-2-ylidene, i Pr 2 -bimy), alkynyl (phenylacetylide, PA), and halide (Br), respectively. The delicately balanced stereochemical effects and bonding capabilities of the three ligands give rise to peculiar geometrical and electronic structures. Remarkably, des…

Adsorption and activation of O2 at Au chains on MgO/Mo thin films

We have investigated the adsorption of O(2) on Au(n) clusters (n = 1-6) supported by an ultra thin (3ML)MgO(001) film on Mo metal via density functional theory calculations. On thin films, these small clusters have chain like structures and their electronic states resemble 1D quantum well states. The Au(1-3) are charged by one electron whereas the larger Au(4-6) get two electrons from the substrate. This is confirmed both by the symmetries of the HOMO and LUMO states of the clusters and the Bader charge analysis. In contrast to the O(2) adsorption on gas-phase clusters, the adsorption energy of O(2) molecule does not show pronounced oscillations as a function of cluster size. The O(2) is ac…

Aluminum cluster anions: Photoelectron spectroscopy andab initiosimulations

Atomic structures and geometries, electronic structure, and temperature-dependent photoelectron spectra of ${\mathrm{Al}}_{N}^{\ensuremath{-}} (N=19\ensuremath{-}102)$ clusters are studied both theoretically via ab initio local-density-functional simulations, and experimentally with high-resolution measurements. The use of a theoretically well-defined energy shift in conjunction with a generalized Koopmans' theorem enables direct comparisons between the calculated density of states and the experimental photoelectron spectrum. Such comparisons, using photoelectron spectra calculated for various relaxed cluster geometries, enables a determination of the optimal structures of the clusters. The…

Electronic shell structures in bare and protected metal nanoclusters

This short review discusses the concept of the electronic shell structure in the context of metal nanoclusters. Electronic shell structure is a natural consequence of quantization of fermionic states in a quantum confinement, where the symmetry of the confining potential creates energetically close-lying sets of states that reflect the symmetry of the potential. It was introduced in cluster physics in early 1980s and initially influenced greatly by the related model of nuclear shell structure from 1950’s. Three application areas are discussed consisting of free gas phase clusters, clusters supported by insulating oxides or oxide thin films, and clusters that are synthesized by wet chemistry…

Cover Feature: Towards Atomically Precise Supported Catalysts from Monolayer‐Protected Clusters: The Critical Role of the Support (Chem. Eur. J. 31/2020)

Exploring Strategies for Labeling Viruses with Gold Nanoclusters through Non-equilibrium Molecular Dynamics Simulations.

Biocompatible gold nanoclusters can be utilized as contrast agents in virus imaging. The labeling of viruses can be achieved noncovalently but site-specifically by linking the cluster to the hydrophobic pocket of a virus via a lipid-like pocket factor. We have estimated the binding affinities of three different pocket factors of echovirus 1 (EV1) in molecular dynamics simulations combined with non-equilibrium free-energy calculations. We have also studied the effects on binding affinities with a pocket factor linked to the Au102pMBA44 nanocluster in different protonation states. Although the absolute binding affinities are over-estimated for all the systems, the trend is in agreement with r…

Ag44(EBT)26(TPP)4 Nanoclusters with Tailored Molecular and Electronic Structure

Although atomically precise metalloid nanoclusters (NCs) of identical size with distinctly different molecular structures are highly desirable to understand the structural effects on the intriguing optical and photophysical properties, their synthesis remains highly challenging. Herein, we employed phosphine and thiol capping ligands featuring appropriate steric effects and synthesized a charge‐neutral Ag NC with the formula, Ag 44 (EBT) 26 (TPP) 4 (EBT: 2‐ethylbenzenethiolate; TPP: triphenylphosphine). The single‐crystal X‐ray structure reveals that this NC has a hollow metal core of Ag 12 @Ag 20 and a metal‐ligand shell of Ag 12 (EBT) 26 (TPP) 4 . The presence of mixed ligands and long V‐…

Atomically Precise Alkynyl- and Halide-Protected AuAg Nanoclusters Au78Ag66(C≡CPh)48Cl8 and Au74Ag60(C≡CPh)40Br12: The Ligation Effects of Halides

Reported herein are the synthesis and structures of two high-nuclearity AuAg nanoclusters, namely, [Au78Ag66(C≡CPh)48Cl8]q− and [Au74Ag60(C≡CPh)40Br12]2–. Both clusters possess a three-concentric-s...

Solubility-Driven Isolation of a Metastable Nonagold Cluster with Body-Centered Cubic Structure.

The conventional synthetic methodology of atomically precise gold nanoclusters using reduction in solutions offers only thermodynamically most stable nanoclusters. We report herein a solubility‐driven isolation strategy to access the synthesis of a metastable gold cluster. The cluster, with the composition of [Au 9 (PPh 3 ) 8 ] + ( 1 ), displays an unusual, nearly perfect body‐centered‐cubic (bcc) structure. As revealed by ESI‐MS and UV/Vis measurement, the cluster is metastable in solution and converts to the well‐known [Au 11 (PPh 3 ) 8 Cl 2 ] + ( 2 ) within just 90 min. DFT calculations revealed that while both 1 and 2 are eight‐electron superatoms, there is a driving force to convert 1 …

A critical size for emergence of nonbulk electronic and geometric structures in dodecanethiolate-protected Au clusters.

We report on how the transition from the bulk structure to the cluster-specific structure occurs in n-dodecanethiolate-protected gold clusters, Au(n)(SC12)m. To elucidate this transition, we isolated a series of Au(n)(SC12)m in the n range from 38 to ∼520, containing five newly identified or newly isolated clusters, Au104(SC12)45, Au(∼226)(SC12)(∼76), Au(∼253)(SC12)(∼90), Au(∼356)(SC12)(∼112), and Au(∼520)(SC12)(∼130), using reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. Low-temperature optical absorption spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffractometry, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed that the Au cores of Au144(SC12)60 and smaller clusters have molecular-like elec…

Electron Binding in a Superatom with a Repulsive Coulomb Barrier: The Case of [Ag44(SC6H3F2)30]4– in the Gas Phase

The electron binding mechanism in [Ag44(SC6H3F2)30]4- (SC6H3F2 = 3,4-difluorobenzenethiolate) tetra-anion was studied by photoelectron spectroscopy (PES), collision-induced dissociation mass spectrometry (CID-MS), and density functional theory (DFT) computations. PES showed that [Ag44(SC6H3F2)30]4- is energetically metastable with respect to electron autodetachment {[Ag44(SC6H3F2)30]3- + e-} and features a repulsive Coulomb barrier (RCB) with a height of 2.7 eV. However, CID-MS revealed that [Ag44(SC6H3F2)30]4- does not release an electron upon collisional excitation but undergoes dissociation. DFT computations performed on the known structure of [Ag44(SC6H3F2)30]4- confirmed the negative a…

Synthesis and properties of an Au6 cluster supported by a mixed N-heterocyclic carbene–thiolate ligand

The preparation of a novel Au6 cluster bearing a bidentate mixed carbene–thiolate ligand is presented. The length of linker between the central benzimidazole and thiolate has a strong effect on the formation of cluster products, with a C2 chain giving an Au6 cluster, while a C3 chain results in no evidence of cluster formation. Density functional theory analysis predicts a non-metallic cluster with a large HOMO–LUMO (3.2–3.6 eV) and optical gap.

Connections Between Theory and Experiment for Gold and Silver Nanoclusters.

Ligand-stabilized gold and silver nanoparticles are of tremendous current interest in sensing, catalysis, and energy applications. Experimental and theoretical studies have closely interacted to elucidate properties such as the geometric and electronic structures of these fascinating systems. In this review, the interplay between theory and experiment is described; areas such as optical absorption and doping, where the theory–experiment connections are well established, are discussed in detail; and the current status of these connections in newer fields of study, such as luminescence, transient absorption, and the effects of solvent and the surrounding environment, are highlighted. Close co…

An Intermetallic Au24Ag20 Superatom Nanocluster Stabilized by Labile Ligands

An intermetallic nanocluster containing 44 metal atoms, Au24Ag20(2-SPy)4(PhC≡C)20Cl2, was successfully synthesized and structurally characterized by single-crystal analysis and density funtional theory computations. The 44 metal atoms in the cluster are arranged as a concentric three-shell Au12@Ag20@Au12 Keplerate structure having a high symmetry. For the first time, the co-presence of three different types of anionic ligands (i.e., phenylalkynyl, 2-pyridylthiolate, and chloride) was revealed on the surface of metal nanoclusters. Similar to thiolates, alkynyls bind linearly to surface Au atoms using their σ-bonds, leading to the formation of two types of surface staple units (PhC≡C-Au-L, L …

Photo-Induced Cluster-to-Cluster Transformation of [Au37–xAgx(PPh3)13Cl10]3+ into [Au25–yAgy(PPh3)10Cl8]+: Fragmentation of a Trimer of 8-Electron Superatoms by Light

We present the photoinduced size/structure transformation of [Au37-xAgx(PPh3)13Cl10]3+ (M37) into [Au25-yAgy(PPh3)10Cl8]+ (M25) cluster. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction revealed that M37 has a tri-icosahedron M36 metal core assembled via the fusion of three Au7Ag6 icosahedrons in a cyclic fashion and that the M36 core is further protected by phosphine and chloride ligands. The M37 cluster is found to be highly sensitive toward ambient light, and the M37 → M25 transition is observed with 530 nm irradiation, monitored by time-dependent UV-vis spectroscopy, electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS), and femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. Linear-response time-dependent DFT…

Au-40(SR)(24) Cluster as a Chiral Dimer of 8-Electron Superatoms: Structure and Optical Properties

We predict and analyze density-functional theory (DFT)-based structures for the recently isolated Au(40)(SR)(24) cluster. Combining structural information extracted from ligand-exchange reactions, circular dichroism and transmission electron microscopy leads us to propose two families of low-energy structures that have a chiral Au-S framework on the surface. These families have a common geometrical motif where a nonchiral Au(26) bi-icosahedral cluster core is protected by 6 RS-Au-SR and 4 RS-Au-SR-Au-SR oligomeric units, analogously to the "Divide and Protect" motif of known clusters Au(25)(SR)(18)(-/0), Au(38)(SR)(24) and Au(102)(SR)(44). The strongly prolate shape of the proposed Au(26) c…

Prospects and challenges for computer simulations of monolayer-protected metal clusters

Precise knowledge of chemical composition and atomic structure of functional nanosized systems, such as metal clusters stabilized by an organic molecular layer, allows for detailed computational work to investigate structure-property relations. Here, we discuss selected recent examples of computational work that has advanced understanding of how these clusters work in catalysis, how they interact with biological systems, and how they can make self-assembled, macroscopic materials. A growing challenge is to develop effective new simulation methods that take into account the cluster-environment interactions. These new hybrid methods are likely to contain components from electronic structure t…

Analysis of the Electronic Structure of Non-Spherical Ligand-Protected Metal Nanoclusters : The Case of a Box-Like Ag67

In this work we introduce a new strategy to investigate the electronic shell structure of ligand-protected metal nanoclusters of polyhedral core shape. The central idea is to identify the symmetry of the Kohn–Sham molecular orbitals of an atomistic structure based on their projection onto the electronic states of a jellium system with a similar shape of the background charge density. Herein, we study the connection between a reduced atomistic model of the recently reported box-like [Ag67(SR)32(PR3)8]3+ nanocluster and a jellium box consisting of 32 free electrons. With this approach, we determine the symmetry of electronic states of the metal core and identify those that are involved in the…

DISORDERING MECHANISMS OF THE Cu(110) SURFACE

We review recent theoretical work on the various disordering mechanisms of the Cu(110) surface. In these studies the properties of the surface, from the onset of enhanced anharmonicity in surface vibrations up to bulk melting point T M , have been studied using molecular dynamics and lattice-gas Monte Carlo methods with many-body interactions derived from the effective medium theory. Well after the onset of enhanced out-of-plane surface vibrations, clustering of surface defects is found to induce a roughening transition at T≈0.81T M , and surface premelting is found to occur at T≈0.97T M . These results suggest, that these transitions can both appear at Cu(110). The general picture of diso…

Combinatorial Identification of Hydrides in a Ligated Ag40 Nanocluster with Noncompact Metal Core

No formation of bulk silver hydride has been reported. Until very recently, only a few silver nanoclusters containing hydrides have been successfully prepared. However, due to the lack of effective techniques and also poor stability of hydride-containing Ag nanoclusters, the identification of hydrides' location within Ag nanoclusters is challenging and not yet achieved, although some successes have been reported on clusters of several Ag atoms. In this work, we report a detailed structural and spectroscopic characterization of the [Ag40(DMBT)24(PPh3)8H12]2+ (Ag40H12) cluster (DMBT = 2,4-dimethylbenzenethiol). The metal framework consists of three concentric shells of Ag8@Ag24@Ag8, which can…

Oxidation of magnesia-supported Pd-clusters leads to the ultimate limit of epitaxy with a catalytic function

Oxide-supported transition-metal clusters and nanoparticles have attracted significant attention owing to their important role as components of model catalysts, sensors, solar cells and magnetic recording devices. For small clusters, functionality and structure are closely interrelated. However, knowledge of the structure of the bare cluster is insufficient as the interaction with the chemical environment might cause drastic structural changes. Here we show by ab initio simulations based on the density functional theory that the reaction with molecular oxygen transforms small, non-crystalline, magnesia-supported Pd-clusters to crystalline Pd(x)O(y) nano-oxide clusters that are in epitaxy wi…

A density functional investigation of thiolate-protected bimetal PdAu24(SR)18z clusters: doping the superatom complex

Structure, electronic properties, optical absorption and charging properties of methylthiolate-protected bimetal PdAu(24)(SR)(18)(z) (R = Me) clusters with various charge states (-3or=zor= +3) are investigated by using density functional theory. The results are compared to properties of the well-understood singly anionic pure gold complex Au(25)(SR)(18)((-1)) [J. Akola, M. Walter, H. Häkkinen and H. Grönbeck, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2008, 130, 3756]. The atomic structure of this all-gold complex can be written in a "divide-and-protect" way [H. Häkkinen, M. Walter and H. Grönbeck, J. Phys. Chem. B, 2006, 110, 9927] as Au(13)[Au(2)(SR)(3)](6)((-1)) where 6 v-shaped Au(2)(SR)(3) ligands protect the…

Gold/Isophorone Interaction Driven by Keto/Enol Tautomerization

The binding behavior of isophorone (C9H14O) to Au adatoms and clusters deposited on MgO/Ag(001) thin films is investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and density functional theory (DFT). The STM data reveal the formation of various metal/organic complexes, ranging from Au1/isophorone pairs to larger Au aggregates with molecules bound to their perimeter. DFT calculations find the energetically preferred keto-isophorone to be unreactive toward gold, while the enol-tautomer readily binds to Au monomers and clusters. The interaction is governed by electrostatic forces between the hydroxyl group of the enol and negative excess charges residing on the ad-gold. The activation barrier b…

Probing the Atomic-Scale Structure of Monolayer-Protected Au38 Clusters

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2010 in Portland, Oregon, USA, August 1 – August 5, 2010.

Molecular Dynamics Study of Disordering and Premelting of the Pb(110) Surface

Molecular dynamics simulations incorporating a many-body (glue) potential have been used to investigate the atomic structure and dynamics of the Pb(110) surface in the range from room temperature up to the bulk melting point. The Pb (110) surface starts to disorder approximately at 360 K via the generation of vacancies and the formation of an adlayer. At about 520 K we observe the onset of a quasiliquid region at the surface, which exhibits liquid-like energetic, structural and surface properties. The disordering is enhanced in the direction parallel to the close-packed rows. While losing long range order, the two outermost quasiliquid layers retain a considerable degree of short range orde…

Computational Criteria for Hydrogen Evolution Activity on Ligand-Protected Au25-Based Nanoclusters

The hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is a critical reaction in addressing climate change; however, it requires catalysts to be generated on an industrial scale. Nanomaterials offer several advantages over conventional HER catalysts, including the possibility of atomic precision in tailoring the intrinsic activity. Ligand-protected metal clusters, such as the thiolate-protected MAu24(SR)18 (where M is Au, Cu, Pd), are of particular interest as not only are they electrocatalytically active toward HER, but the charge state and composition can be precisely tuned. Here, we present a comprehensive computational study examining how the charge state and dopants affect the catalytic activity of [MA…

Solvent-mediated assembly of atom-precise gold–silver nanoclusters to semiconducting one-dimensional materials

Bottom-up design of functional device components based on nanometer-sized building blocks relies on accurate control of their self-assembly behavior. Atom-precise metal nanoclusters are well-characterizable building blocks for designing tunable nanomaterials, but it has been challenging to achieve directed assembly to macroscopic functional cluster-based materials with highly anisotropic properties. Here, we discover a solvent-mediated assembly of 34-atom intermetallic gold–silver clusters protected by 20 1-ethynyladamantanes into 1D polymers with Ag–Au–Ag bonds between neighboring clusters as shown directly by the atomic structure from single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Density fun…

Atomically Precise Gold Nanoclusters: Towards an Optimal Biocompatible System from a Theoretical-Experimental Strategy.

Potential biomedical applications of gold nanoparticles have increasingly been reported with great promise for diagnosis and therapy of several diseases. However, for such a versatile nanomaterial, the advantages and potential health risks need to be addressed carefully, as the available information about their toxicity is limited and inconsistent. Atomically precise gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) have emerged to overcome this challenge due to their unique features, such as superior stability, excellent biocompatibility, and efficient renal clearance. Remarkably, the elucidation of their structural and physicochemical properties provided by theory-experiment investigations offers exciting opport…

Alkynyl‐Protected Chiral Bimetallic Ag22Cu7 Superatom with Multiple Chirality Origins

Understanding the origin of chirality in the nanostructured materials is essential for chiroptical and catalytic applications. Here we report a chiral AgCu superatomic cluster, [Ag22Cu7(C≡CR)16(PPh3)5Cl6](PPh4), Ag22Cu7, protected by an achiral alkynyl ligand (HC≡CR: 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl)phenylacetylene). Its crystal structure comprises a rare interpenetrating biicosahedral Ag17Cu2 core, which is stabilized by four different types of motifs: one Cu(C≡CR)2, four -C≡CR, two chlorides and one helical Ag5Cu4(C≡CR)10(PPh3)5Cl4. Structural analysis reveals that Ag22Cu7 exhibits multiple chirality origins, including the metal core, the metal-ligand interface and the ligand layer. Furthermore, t…

Self-Passivating Edge Reconstructions of Graphene

Planar reconstruction patterns at the zigzag and armchair edges of graphene were investigated with density functional theory. It was unexpectedly found that the zigzag edge is metastable and a planar reconstruction spontaneously takes place at room temperature. The reconstruction changes electronic structure and self-passivates the edge with respect to adsorption of atomic hydrogen from molecular atmosphere.

Trapping of 27 bp–8 kbp DNA and immobilization of thiol-modified DNA using dielectrophoresis

Dielectrophoretic trapping of six different DNA fragments, sizes varying from the 27 to 8416 bp, has been studied using confocal microscopy. The effect of the DNA length and the size of the constriction between nanoscale fingertip electrodes on the trapping efficiency have been investigated. Using finite element method simulations in conjunction with the analysis of the experimental data, the polarizabilities of the different size DNA fragments have been calculated for different frequencies. Also the immobilization of trapped hexanethiol- and DTPA-modified 140 nm long DNA to the end of gold nanoelectrodes was experimentally quantified and the observations were supported by density functiona…

The electronic structure of Ge9[Si(SiMe3)3]3-: a superantiatom complex.

We report on the electronic structure of Ge(9)[Si(SiMe(3))(3)](3)(-). Systematic density functional theory analysis of the electronic shell structure of the cluster and its derivatives reveals that the Ge(9)[Si(SiMe(3))(3)](3)(-) and its neutral counterpart have electronic shells that can be explained using the superatom model. The ligand-core interaction of these complexes is distinctly different from previously identified gold, gallium, and aluminium superatom complexes, indicating an electron-donating rather than electron-withdrawing ligand. We modify the electron-counting rule for this case and introduce a simple picture for superatom and superantiatom complexes. Discussions comparing s…

Ultrafast electronic relaxation and vibrational cooling dynamics of Au 144(SC2H4Ph)60 nanocluster probed by transient mid-IR spectroscopy

Energy relaxation dynamics of a gold nanocluster with atomically precise composition, Au144(SC2H4Ph)60, is studied by transient mid-IR spectroscopy. The experiment is designed to simultaneously pro...

[Ag67(SPhMe2)32(PPh3)8]3+: Synthesis, Total Structure, and Optical Properties of a Large Box-Shaped Silver Nanocluster

Engineering the surface ligands of metal nanoparticles is critical in designing unique arrangements of metal atoms. Here, we report the synthesis and total structure determination of a large box-shaped Ag67 nanocluster (NC) protected by a mixed shell of thiolate (2,4-dimethylbenzenethiolate, SPhMe2) and phosphine (triphenylphosphine, PPh3) ligands. Single crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) revealed the cluster formula to be [Ag67(SPhMe2)32(PPh3)8]3+. The crystal structure shows an Ag23 metal core covered by a layer of Ag44S32P8 arranged in the shape of a box. The Ag23 core was formed through an unprecedented centered cuboctahedron, i.e.,…

Atomistic Simulations of Functional Au_{144}(SR)_{60} Gold Nanoparticles in Aqueous Environment

Charged monolayer-protected gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) have been studied in aqueous solution by performing atomistic molecular dynamics simulations at physiological temperature (310 K). Particular attention has been paid to electrostatic properties that modulate the formation of a complex comprised of the nanoparticle together with surrounding ions and water. We focus on Au-144 nanoparticles that comprise a nearly spherical Au core (diameter similar to 2 nm), a passivating Au-S interface, and functionalized alkanethiol chains. Cationic and anionic AuNPs have been modeled with amine and carboxyl terminal groups and Cl-/Na+ counterions, respectively. The radial distribution functions show tha…

All-thiol-stabilized Ag44 and Au12Ag32 nanoparticles with single-crystal structures

Noble metal nanoparticles stabilized by organic ligands are important for applications in assembly, site-specific bioconjugate labelling and sensing, drug delivery and medical therapy, molecular recognition and molecular electronics, and catalysis. Here we report crystal structures and theoretical analysis of three Ag44(SR)30 and three Au12Ag32(SR)30 intermetallic nanoclusters stabilized with fluorinated arylthiols (SR=SPhF, SPhF2 or SPhCF3). The nanocluster forms a Keplerate solid of concentric icosahedral and dodecahedral atom shells, protected by six Ag2(SR)5 units. Positive counterions in the crystal indicate a high negative charge of 4(-) per nanoparticle, and density functional theory…

Towards Controlled Synthesis of Water-Soluble Gold Nanoclusters : Synthesis and Analysis

Water-soluble gold nanoclusters with well-defined molecular structures and stability possess particular biophysical properties making them excellent candidates for biological applications as well as for fundamental spectroscopic studies. The currently existing synthetic protocols for atomically monodisperse thiolate-protected gold nanoclusters (AuMPCs) have been widely expanded with organothiolates, yet the direct synthesis reports for water-soluble AuMPCs are still deficient. Here, we demonstrate a wet-chemistry pH-controlled synthesis of two large water-soluble nanoclusters utilizing p-mercaptobenzoic acid (pMBA), affording different sizes of plasmonic AuMPCs on the preparative scale (∼7 …

Adsorption of small Au clusters on MgO and MgO/Mo: the role of oxygen vacancies and the Mo-support

We report a systematic density functional theory investigation of adsorption of small Aun (n = 1-6) clusters on ideal and defected MgO(100) single crystal surfaces and Mo(100) supported thin MgO(100) films. As a model defect, we consider a neutral surface oxygen vacancy (Fs). Optimal adsorption geometries and energies, cluster formation energies and cluster charges are discussed and compared in detail over four different substrates. For a given cluster size, the adsorption energy among these substrates increases in the order MgO, Fs/MgO, MgO/Mo and Fs/MgO/Mo. While cluster growth by association of atoms from gas phase is exothermic on all the substrates, cluster growth by diffusion and aggr…

Enhanced Surface Ligands Reactivity of Metal Clusters by Bulky Ligands for Controlling Optical and Chiral Properties.

Surface ligands play critical roles in determining the surface properties of metal clusters. However, modulating the properties and controlling the surface structure of clusters through surface‐capping agent displacement remain a challenge. In this work, a silver cluster, [Ag 14 (SPh(CF 3 ) 2 ) 12 (PPh 3 ) 4 (DMF) 4 ] ( Ag 14 ‐DMF , where HSPh(CF 3 ) 2 is 3,5‐bis(trifluoromethyl)benzenethiol, PPh 3 is triphenylphosphine and DMF is N,N‐Dimethylformamide), with weakly coordinated DMF ligands on the surface silver sites, was synthesized by using a mixed ligands strategy (bulky thiolates, phosphines and small solvents). The as‐prepared Ag 14 ‐DMF is a racemic mixture of chiral molecules. Owing …

Chloride ligands on DNA-stabilized silver nanoclusters

DNA-stabilized silver nanoclusters (AgN-DNAs) are known to have one or two DNA oligomer ligands per nanocluster. Here, we present the first evidence that AgN-DNA species can possess additional chloride ligands that lead to increased stability in biologically relevant concentrations of chloride. Mass spectrometry of five chromatographically isolated near-infrared (NIR)-emissive AgN-DNA species with previously reported X-ray crystal structures determines their molecular formulas to be (DNA)2[Ag16Cl2]8+. Chloride ligands can be exchanged for bromides, which red-shift the optical spectra of these emitters. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations of the 6-electron nanocluster show that the …

Ag44(SeR)30: A Hollow Cage Silver Cluster with Selenolate Protection.

Selenolate protected, stable and atomically precise, hollow silver cluster was synthesized using solid state as well as solution state routes. The optical absorption spectrum shows multiple and sharp features similar to the thiolated Ag44 cluster, Ag44(SR)30 whose experimental structure was reported recently. High-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HRESI MS) shows well-defined molecular ion features with two, three, and four ions with isotopic resolution, due to Ag44(SePh) 30. Additional characterization with diverse tools confirmed the composition. The closed-shell 18 electron superatom electronic structure, analogous to Ag44(SR)30 stabilizes the dodecahedral cage with a…

Ligand-Stabilized Au13Cux (x = 2, 4, 8) Bimetallic Nanoclusters: Ligand Engineering to Control the Exposure of Metal Sites

Three novel bimetallic Au-Cu nanoclusters stabilized by a mixed layer of thiolate and phosphine ligands bearing pyridyl groups are synthesized and fully characterized by X-ray single crystal analysis and density functional theory computations. The three clusters have an icosahedral Au13 core face-capped by two, four, and eight Cu atoms, respectively. All face-capping Cu atoms in the clusters are triply coordinated by thiolate or pyridyl groups. The surface ligands control the exposure of Au sites in the clusters. In the case of the Au13Cu8 cluster, the presence of 12 2-pyridylthiolate ligands still leaves open space for catalysis. All the 3 clusters are 8-electron superatoms displaying opti…

Magnetically induced currents and aromaticity in ligand-stabilized Au and AuPt superatoms

Understanding magnetically induced currents (MICs) in aromatic or metallic nanostructures is crucial for interpreting local magnetic shielding and NMR data. Direct measurements of the induced currents have been successful only in a few planar molecules but their indirect effects are seen in NMR shifts of probe nuclei. Here, we have implemented a numerically efficient method to calculate gauge-including MICs in the formalism of auxiliary density functional theory. We analyze the currents in two experimentally synthesized gold-based, hydrogen-containing ligand-stabilized nanoclusters [HAu9(PPh3)8]2+ and [PtHAu8(PPh3)8]+. Both clusters have a similar octet configuration of Au(6s)-derived deloc…

Atomically Precise, Thiolated Copper–Hydride Nanoclusters as Single-Site Hydrogenation Catalysts for Ketones in Mild Conditions

Copper-hydrides are known catalysts for several technologically important reactions such as hydrogenation of CO, hydroamination of alkenes and alkynes, and chemoselective hydrogenation of unsaturated ketones to unsaturated alcohols. Stabilizing copper-based particles by ligand chemistry to nanometer scale is an appealing route to make active catalysts with optimized material economy; however, it has been long believed that the ligand-metal interface, particularly if sulfur-containing thiols are used as stabilizing agent, may poison the catalyst. We report here a discovery of an ambient-stable thiolate-protected copper-hydride nanocluster [Cu25H10(SPhCl2)18]3- that readily catalyzes hydrogen…

Stability, electronic structure, and optical properties of protected gold-doped silver Ag29-xAux (x = 0-5) nanoclusters

In this work, we used density functional theory (DFT) and linear response time-dependent DFT (LR-TDDFT) to investigate the stability, electronic structure, and optical properties of Au-doped [Ag29−xAux(BDT)12(TPP)4]3− nanoclusters (BDT: 1,3-benzenedithiol; TPP triphenylphosphine) with x = 0–5. The aim of this work is to shed light on the most favorable doped structures by comparing our results with previously published experimental data. The calculated relative energies, ranging between 0.8 and 10 meV per atom, indicate that several doped Ag29−xAux nanoclusters are likely to co-exist at room temperature. However, only the Au-doped [Ag29−xAux(BDT)12(TPP)4]3− nanoclusters that have direct bon…

Cd12Ag32(SePh)36: Non-Noble Metal Doped Silver Nanoclusters

While there are numerous recent reports on doping of a ligand-protected noble metal nanocluster (e.g., Au and Ag) with another noble metal, non-noble metal (e.g., Cd) doping remains challenging. Here, we design a phosphine-assisted synthetic strategy and synthesize a Cd doped Ag nanocluster, Cd12Ag32(SePh)36 (SePh: selenophenolate), which exhibits characteristic UV–vis absorption features and rare near-infrared (NIR) photoluminescence at ∼1020 nm. The X-ray single crystal structure reveals an asymmetric two-shell Ag4@Ag24 metal kernel protected by four nonplanar Cd3Ag(SePh)9 metal–ligand frameworks. Furthermore, the electronic structure analysis shows that the cluster is a 20-electron “supe…

Effects of Silver Doping on the Geometric and Electronic Structure and Optical Absorption Spectra of the Au_{25-n}Ag_{n}(SH)_{18}^{-} (n = 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12) Bimetallic Nanoclusters

The effect of silver doping of the Au25(SH)18– nanoparticle is studied by investigating Au25–nAgn(SH)18– (n = 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12) systems using DFT. For n = 1, doping of the icosahedral shell of the metal core is energetically more favorable than doping of the metal–thiolate units or the center of the core. For n ≥ 2, only doping of the core surface is considered, and arrangements where the silver dopants are in close proximity tend to be slightly less favorable. However, energy differences are small, and all conformations are accessible under experimental conditions. Boltzmann-averaged excitation spectra for these systems show similar features to the undoped Au25(SH)18–. The main differ…

Chiral footprint of the ligand layer in the all-alkynyl-protected gold nanocluster Au144(CCPhF)60

The electronic structure and chiroptical properties of the recently isolated and structurally characterized all-alkynyl-protected gold nanocluster Au144(CCPhF)60 were analyzed via density functional theory (DFT) computations and compared to those of the structurally similar all-thiolate-protected Au144(SCH2Ph)60. While DFT predicts very strong CD signals of similar strength for both clusters, the origins of chiroptical activity are markedly different. The chiral response of Au144(CCPhF)60 originates only from the footprint of the outermost gold-ligand layer of 30 FPhCC-Au-CCPhF units covering an achiral Ih-symmetric Au114 core whereas the Au114 core of the Au144(SCH2Ph)60 cluster has a chir…

Surface Chemistry Controls Magnetism in Cobalt Nanoclusters

Magnetic properties of Co13 and Co55 nanoclusters, passivated by surface ligand shells that exhibit varying electronic interactions with the metal, are studied using density functional theory. The calculations show that the chemical nature of the bond between the ligand and the metal core (X-type or L-type) impacts the total magnetic moment of Co nanoclusters dramatically. Furthermore, the chemical identity of the ligand within each binding motif then provides a fine handle on the exhibited magnetic moment of the cluster. Thus, ligand shell chemistry is predicted to not only stabilize Co nanoclusters, but provide a powerful approach to control their magnetic properties, which combined enabl…

Birth of the Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance in Monolayer-Protected Gold Nanoclusters

Gold nanoclusters protected by a thiolate monolayer (MPC) are widely studied for their potential applications in site-specific bioconjugate labeling, sensing, drug delivery, and molecular electronics. Several MPCs with 1-2 nm metal cores are currently known to have a well-defined molecular structure, and they serve as an important link between molecularly dispersed gold and colloidal gold to understand the size-dependent electronic and optical properties. Here, we show by using an ab initio method together with atomistic models for experimentally observed thiolate-stabilized gold clusters how collective electronic excitations change when the gold core of the MPC grows from 1.5 to 2.0 nm. A …

Dynamic Stabilization of the Ligand-Metal Interface in Atomically Precise Gold Nanoclusters Au68 and Au144 Protected by meta-Mercaptobenzoic Acid

Ligand-stabilized, atomically precise gold nanoclusters with a metal core of a uniform size of just 1–3 nm constitute an interesting class of nanomaterials with versatile possibilities for applications due to their size-dependent properties and modifiable ligand layers. The key to extending the usability of the clusters in applications is to understand the chemical bonding in the ligand layer as a function of cluster size and ligand structure. Previously, it has been shown that monodispersed gold nanoclusters, stabilized by meta-mercaptobenzoic acid (m-MBA or 3-MBA) ligands and with sizes of 68–144 gold atoms, show ambient stability. Here we show that a combination of nuclear magnetic reson…

Ligand-Protected Gold Nanoclusters as Superatoms—Insights from Theory and Computations

Abstract Gold clusters and nanoparticles, stabilized by various ligands, exhibit a rich array of interesting and important electronic, optical, chemical and catalytic properties. Many particles can now be synthesized by wet chemistry, and they can be handled as normal chemicals: stored, modified and functionalized for applications in medical therapy, biolabelling, sensing, nanoelectronics and catalysis. In recent years, understanding of the stability, surface chemistry and functionalization of these interesting building blocks of nano-matter has taken a quantum leap. This is facilitated by simultaneous breakthroughs in experimental and theoretical fronts concerning accurate structural deter…

Symmetry-induced long-lived excited state inAu6−

We present time-resolved photoelectron spectra in combination with quantum chemical calculations based on time-dependent density functional theory for the study of the long-lived excited state of ${\mathrm{Au}}_{6}^{\ensuremath{-}}$. The experimental spectra indicate an excited state lifetime of at least $90\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{ns}$. It is shown that the orbital symmetry of the photoexcited state as well as the planarity of ${\mathrm{Au}}_{6}^{\ensuremath{-}}$ are responsible for the unusual long lifetime. A possible decay mechanism is the fluorescence of a photon which is estimated to take place on a time scale of $730\phantom{\rule{0.3em}{0ex}}\mathrm{ns}$.

Roughening of the Cu(110) surface

The structure of the Cu(110) surface is studied at high temperatures using a combination of lattice-gas Monte Carlo and molecular dynamics methods with identical many-atom interactions derived from the effective medium theory. The anisotropic six-vertex model is used in the interpretation of the lattice-gas results. We find a clear roughening transition around T_R=1000K and T_R/T_M=0.81. Molecular dynamics reveals the clustering of surface defects as the atomistic mechanism of the transition and allows us to estimate characteristic time scales. For the system of size 50x50, the time scale of the local roughening at 1150 K of an initially smooth surface is of the order of 100 ps.

Molecular Dynamics Study of Copper and Aluminum under Mechanical Strain

AbstractMechanical properties of copper and aluminum have been studied using finite temperature molecular dynamics simulations. Atomic interactions have been described by a many-atom effective medium potential, which takes into account interactions up to third neighbors. The computed elastic constants showed good agreement with experimental data. Encouraged by these results the model was applied to study fracture in copper. Systems with a grain boundary and an initial cut serving as a crack seed have been studied. In the first case, crack nucleation and propagation took place exclusively at the grain boundary. In the second case, dislocation propagation was observed in one of the <110&gt…

Real-space imaging with pattern recognition of a ligand-protected Ag374 nanocluster at sub-molecular resolution

High-resolution real-space imaging of nanoparticle surfaces is desirable for better understanding of surface composition and morphology, molecular interactions at the surface, and nanoparticle chemical functionality in its environment. However, achieving molecular or sub-molecular resolution has proven to be very challenging, due to highly curved nanoparticle surfaces and often insufficient knowledge of the monolayer composition. Here, we demonstrate sub-molecular resolution in scanning tunneling microscopy imaging of thiol monolayer of a 5 nm nanoparticle Ag374 protected by tert-butyl benzene thiol. The experimental data is confirmed by comparisons through a pattern recognition algorithm t…

Site-specific targeting of enterovirus capsid by functionalized monodisperse gold nanoclusters

Development of precise protocols for accurate site-specific conjugation of monodisperse inorganic nanoparticles to biological material is one of the challenges in contemporary bionanoscience and nanomedicine. We report here a successful site-specific covalent conjugation of functionalized atomically monodisperse gold clusters with 1.5-nm metal cores to viral surfaces. Water-soluble Au102(para-mercaptobenzoic acid)44 clusters, functionalized by maleimide linkers to target cysteines of viral capsid proteins, were synthesized and conjugated to enteroviruses echovirus 1 and coxsackievirus B3. Quantitative analysis of transmission electron microscopy images and the known virus structures showed …

Role of Donor and Acceptor Substituents on the Nonlinear Optical Properties of Gold Nanoclusters

In recent years, a large number of monolayer-protected clusters (MPCs) have been studied by means of single crystal structure characterization. A central aspect of research on MPCs is the correlation of their interesting optical properties with structural features and the formulation of a theoretical framework that allows interpretation of their unique properties. For this, superatom and jellium models have been proven successful. Little attention, however, has been paid to the influence of the protecting ligands. Here, we investigate the effect of changes in [Au25(SR)18-x(SR′)x]−, where SR′ represents a para-substituted thiophenolate derivative (SPh-4-X). We computed the first hyperpolariz…

Molecular-dynamics study of mechanical properties of copper

Mechanical properties of copper have been studied using effective-medium theory and Molecular-Dynamics simulations. At room temperature we calculate the tensile moduli of systems that are elongated along different crystal orientations. These moduli are in very good agreement with the experimental values, the difference being less than 6%. The elastic constants obtained from simulations were also in good agreement with experiments. In addition, the point of maximum stress is found to be of the same order of magnitude as the experimental value. Also crack propagation in systems with periodic boundaries has been studied and micro-voids are seen to generate near the crack tip. Crack propagation…

Electron microscopy of gold nanoparticles at atomic resolution

Detailed structure of a gold nanoparticle Adding only a few atoms or changing the capping ligand can dramatically change the structure of individual metal nanoparticles. Azubel et al. used aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy to derive a three-dimensional reconstruction of water-soluble gold nanoparticles. Small-angle x-ray scattering and other techniques have also corroborated this model. They used this to determine the atomic structure, which compared favorably with density functional theory calculations, without assuming any a priori structural knowledge or the use of model fitting. Science , this issue p. 909

Effects of Bending on Raman-active Vibration Modes of Carbon Nanotubes

We investigate vibration modes and their Raman activity of single-walled carbon nanotubes that are bent within their intrinsic elastic limits. By implementing novel boundary conditions for density-functional based tight-binding, and using non-resonant bond polarization theory, we discover that Raman activity can be induced by bending. Depending on the degree of bending, high-energy Raman peaks change their positions and intensities significantly. These effects can be explained by migration of nodes and antinodes along tube circumference. We discuss the challenge of associating the predicted spectral changes with experimental observations.

Atomistic Simulations of Functional Gold Nanoparticles Au144(Sr)60 Interacting with Membranes

Gold nanoparticles (AuNps) are used in nanomedicine in, e.g., drug delivery and bio-imaging. However, it is regrettable that the understanding of nanoparticle properties in cellular surroundings is incompletely understood. Here, we have complemented our previous studies [1] by performing extensive atomistic molecular dynamics simulations of lipid membranes interacting with charged gold nanoparticles. We have elucidated the action of these nanoparticles on membranes characterized by lipid compositional asymmetry in the two leaflets, thereby unraveling the interactions of AuNPs with both the extracellular and the cytosolic sides of plasma membranes of eukaryotic cells. We have found that ther…

TDDFT Analysis of Optical Properties of Thiol Monolayer-Protected Gold and Intermetallic Silver–Gold Au144(SR)60 and Au84Ag60(SR)60 Clusters

The optical absorption spectra of atomistic model structures for experimentally isolated all-gold Au144(SR)60 and intermetallic Au84Ag60(SR)60 clusters are systematically analyzed from linear-response time-dependent density functional theory (LR-TDDFT) and time-dependent density functional perturbation theory (TD-DFPT) calculations. The computed spectra, utilizing the atomistic model for Au144(SR)60 published by us in 2009, reproduce closely the experimental observations for corresponding isolated compounds, reported previously by Kumara and Dass in 2011. A collective dipole oscillation within the metal cores of the all-gold and intermetallic clusters is formed as response to light in the v…

Electronic and vibrational signatures of the Au102p-MBA44 cluster

Optical absorption of a gold nanocluster of 102 Au atoms protected by 44 para-mercaptobenzoic acid (p-MBA) ligands is measured in the range of 0.05-6.2 eV (mid-IR to UV) by a combination of several techniques for purified samples in solid and solution phases. The results are compared to calculations for a model cluster Au(102)(SMe)(44) based on the time-dependent density functional theory in the linear-response regime and using the known structure of Au(102)(p-MBA)(44). The measured and calculated molar absorption coefficients in the NIR-vis region are comparable, within a factor of 2, in the absolute scale. Several characteristic features are observed in the absorption in the range of 1.5-…

Electronic structure of MgO-supported Au clusters: quantum dots probed by scanning tunneling microscopy.

We investigate via density functional theory (DFT) the appearance of small MgO-supported gold clusters with 8 to 20 atoms in a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) experiment. Comparison of simulations of ultrathin films on a metal support with a bulk MgO leads to similar results for the cluster properties relevant for STM. Simulated STM pictures show the delocalized states of the cluster rather than the atomic structure. This finding is due to the presence of s- derived delocalized states of the cluster near the Fermi energy. The properties of theses states can be understood from a jellium model for monovalent gold.

Acid–Base Properties and Surface Charge Distribution of the Water-Soluble Au102(pMBA)44 Nanocluster

The pKa of the p-mercaptobenzoic acid (pMBA) ligands in the Au102(pMBA)44 nanocluster was measured by using acid–base and IR titration. The observed macroscopic pKa = 6.18 ± 0.05 is significantly more basic than that of free pMBA (pKa = 4.16), and the protonation behavior is anticooperative according to the Hill coefficient n = 0.64 ± 0.04. The cluster is truly water-soluble when more than 22 and insoluble when fewer than 7 ligands are in the deprotonated state. In order to obtain more insight into the anticooperative character, the cluster was modeled at pH ∼6.2 using constant pH molecular dynamics simulations. The pKa values of the individual pMBAs are in the range of 5.18–7.58, depending…

Quantum Well States in Two-Dimensional Gold Clusters on MgO Thin Films

The electronic structure of ultra-small Au clusters on thin MgO/Ag(001) films has been analyzed by scanning tunneling spectroscopy and density functional theory. The clusters exhibit two-dimensional (2D) quantum well states, whose shapes resemble the eigen-states of a 2D electron gas confined in a parabolic potential. From the symmetries of the HOMO and LUMO of a particular cluster, its electron filling and charge state is determined. In accordance to a DFT Bader-charge analysis, aggregates containing up to twenty atoms accumulate one to four extra electrons due to a charge transfer from the MgO/Ag interface. The HOMO - LUMO gap is found to close for clusters containing between 70 and 100 a…

Jahn–Teller effects in Au25(SR)18

The relationship between oxidation state, structure, and magnetism in many molecules is well described by first-order Jahn–Teller distortions. This relationship is not yet well defined for ligated nanoclusters and nanoparticles, especially the nano-technologically relevant gold-thiolate protected metal clusters. Here we interrogate the relationships between structure, magnetism, and oxidation state for the three stable oxidation states, −1, 0 and +1 of the thiolate protected nanocluster Au25(SR)18. We present the single crystal X-ray structures of the previously undetermined charge state Au25(SR)18+1, as well as a higher quality single crystal structure of the neutral compound Au25(SR)180. …

A Computational Study of Adsorption of CO2, SO2, and H2CO on Free-Standing and Molybdenum-Supported CaO Films

Oxide films play a significant role in a wide range of fields from catalysis to solar cell materials. CaO films are promising sorbents for many environmentally harmful molecules. Here, we report a systematic investigation of adsorption of CO2, SO2, and H2CO on bulk and Mo-supported CaO(100) films using density functional theory. Significant effects on adsorption energy, charge transfer to the molecules, and degree of the C–O bond activation were demonstrated on Mo-supported CaO films by changing the film thickness, composition, and the strength and direction of an applied external electric field. These findings are relevant for interpreting results from scanning tunneling microscopy of smal…

Solvation chemistry of water-soluble thiol-protected gold nanocluster Au102 from DOSY NMR spectroscopy and DFT calculations

The hydrodynamic diameter of Aum(pMBA)n [(m, n) = (102, 44) and (144, 60)] clusters in aqueous media was determined via DOSY NMR spectroscopy. The apparent size of the same (n, m) cluster depends on the counter ion of the deprotonated pMBA− ligand as explained by the competing ion-pair strength and hydrogen bonding interactions studied in DFT calculations. The choice of the counter ion affects the surface chemistry and molecular structure at the organic/water interface, which is relevant for biological applications.

Structural and Theoretical Basis for Ligand Exchange on Thiolate Monolayer Protected Gold Nanoclusters

Ligand exchange reactions are widely used for imparting new functionality on or integrating nanoparticles into devices. Thiolate-for-thiolate ligand exchange in monolayer protected gold nanoclusters has been used for over a decade; however, a firm structural basis of this reaction has been lacking. Herein, we present the first single-crystal X-ray structure of a partially exchanged Au(102)(p-MBA)(40)(p-BBT)(4) (p-MBA = para-mercaptobenzoic acid, p-BBT = para-bromobenzene thiol) with p-BBT as the incoming ligand. The crystal structure shows that 2 of the 22 symmetry-unique p-MBA ligand sites are partially exchanged to p-BBT under the initial fast kinetics in a 5 min timescale exchange reacti…

Ligand mediated evolution of size dependent magnetism in cobalt nanoclusters.

We use density functional theory to model the impact of a ligand shell on the magnetic properties of CoN (15 ≤ N ≤ 55) nanoclusters. We study three different ligand shells on each nanocluster core size, each known to have different electronic interactions with the surface: pure Cl ligand shells (X-type), pure PH3 ligand shells (L-type), and two component ligand shells with mixtures of Cl and PH3 ligands. The simulations show that the identity, arrangement, and total coverage of the ligand shell controls the distribution of local magnetic moments across the CoN core. On the surface of an unpassivated CoN nanocluster, the Co-Co coordination number (CN) is known to determine the local magnetic…

1H NMR global diatropicity in copper hydride complexes

Understanding the magnetic response of electrons in nanoclusters is essential to interpret their NMR spectra thereby providing guidelines for their synthesis towards various target applications. Here, we consider two copper hydride clusters that have applications in hydrogen storage and release under standard temperature and pressure. Through Born–Oppenheimer molecular dynamics simulations, we study dynamics effects and their contributions to the NMR peaks. Finally, we examine the electrons’ magnetic response to an applied external magnetic field using the gauge-including magnetically induced currents theory. Local diatropic currents are generated in both clusters but an interesting global …

[Cu32(PET)24H8Cl2](PPh4)2: A Copper Hydride Nanocluster with a Bisquare Antiprismatic Core

Atomically precise coinage metal (Au, Ag, and Cu) nanoclusters (NCs) have been the subject of immense interest for their intriguing structural, photophysical, and catalytic properties. However, the synthesis of Cu NCs is highly challenging because of low reduction potential and high reactivity of copper, demonstrating the need for new synthetic methods using appropriate ligand combinations. By designing a diamine-assisted synthetic strategy, here we report the synthesis and total structure characterization of a box-like dianionic Cu NC [Cu32(PET)24H8Cl2](PPh4)2 coprotected by 2-phenylethanethiolate (PET), hydride, and chloride ligands. Its crystal structure comprises a rare bisquare antipri…

Plasmonic twinned silver nanoparticles with molecular precision

Determining the structures of nanoparticles at atomic resolution is vital to understand their structure–property correlations. Large metal nanoparticles with core diameter beyond 2 nm have, to date, eluded characterization by single-crystal X-ray analysis. Here we report the chemical syntheses and structures of two giant thiolated Ag nanoparticles containing 136 and 374 Ag atoms (that is, up to 3 nm core diameter). As the largest thiolated metal nanoparticles crystallographically determined so far, these Ag nanoparticles enter the truly metallic regime with the emergence of surface plasmon resonance. As miniatures of fivefold twinned nanostructures, these structures demonstrate a subtle dis…

Point Group Symmetry Analysis of the Electronic Structure of Bare and Protected Metal Nanocrystals

The electronic structures of a variety of experimentally identified gold and silver nanoclusters from 20 to 246 atoms, either unprotected or protected by several types of ligands, are characterized by using point group specific symmetry analysis. The delocalized electron states around the HOMO-LUMO energy gap, originating from the metal s-electrons in the cluster core, show symmetry characteristics according to the point group that describes best the atomic arrangement of the core. This indicates strong effects of the lattice structure and overall shape of the metal core to the electronic structure, which cannot be captured by the conventional analysis based on identification of spherical a…

Role of the central gold atom in ligand-protected biicosahedral Au 24 and Au25 clusters

The crystal structures of the ligand-protected clusters [Au24(PPh3)10(SC2H4Ph)5Cl2]+ and [Au25(PPh3)10(SC2H4Ph)5Cl2]2+ have been elucidated recently, and they comprise the same biicosahedral structural motif for the Au core. The only difference is the central Au atom joining two icosahedra which is absent in the Au24 cluster. On the basis of density functional simulations, we have evaluated the structural, electronic, optical, and vibrational properties of the clusters in question with a full presentation for the thiolate and phosphine side groups. Our spherical harmonics analysis of the electronic structure shows that the chemical stability of both clusters can be understood based on an 8 …

Bulky Surface Ligands Promote Surface Reactivities of [Ag141X12(S-Adm)40]3+ (X = Cl, Br, I) Nanoclusters: Models for Multiple-Twinned Nanoparticles

Surface ligands play important roles in controlling the size and shape of metal nanoparticles and their surface properties. In this work, we demonstrate that the use of bulky thiolate ligands, along with halides, as the surface capping agent promotes the formation of plasmonic multiple-twinned Ag nanoparticles with high surface reactivities. The title nanocluster [Ag141X12(S-Adm)40]3+ (where X = Cl, Br, I; S-Adm = 1-adamantanethiolate) has a multiple-shell structure with an Ag71 core protected by a shell of Ag70X12(S-Adm)40. The Ag71 core can be considered as 20 frequency-two Ag10 tetrahedra fused together with a dislocation that resembles multiple-twinning in nanoparticles. The nanocluster…

Orientation Adaptive Minimal Learning Machine for Directions of Atomic Forces

Machine learning (ML) force fields are one of the most common applications of ML in nanoscience. However, commonly these methods are trained on potential energies of atomic systems and force vectors are omitted. Here we present a ML framework, which tackles the greatest difficulty on using forces in ML: accurate prediction of force direction. We use the idea of Minimal Learning Machine to device a method which can adapt to the orientation of an atomic environment to estimate the directions of force vectors. The method was tested with linear alkane molecules. peerReviewed

Oxidation of small gas phase Pd clusters: A density functional study

The adsorption sites of O2 on neutral PdN clusters (N = 1–4) were studied using spin density functional theory. Only for Pd1O2 molecular adsorption is found to be favorable. For Pd2–4O2 dissociative adsorption with the oxygen sitting on Pd bridge sites is preferred. Most Pd clusters remain in the same high spin states found for pure gas phase Pd clusters. Only the ground state of Pd4O2 increase its spin from a triplet to a quintet state. For molecular adsorption the O–O bond gets activated to a superoxo-like state.

Thiol-Stabilized Atomically Precise, Superatomic Silver Nanoparticles for Catalyzing Cycloisomerization of Alkynyl Amines

Abstract Both the electronic and surface structures of metal nanomaterials play critical roles in determining their chemical properties. However, the non-molecular nature of conventional nanoparticles makes it extremely challenging to understand the molecular mechanism behind many of their unique electronic and surface properties. In this work, we report the synthesis, molecular and electronic structures of an atomically precise nanoparticle, [Ag206L72]q (L = thiolate, halide; q = charge). With a four-shell Ag7@Ag32@Ag77@Ag90 Ino-decahedral structure having a nearly perfect D5h symmetry, the metal core of the nanoparticle is co-stabilized by 68 thiolate and 4 halide ligands. Both electroche…

Electronic Structure and Optical Properties of the Intrinsically Chiral 16-Electron Superatom Complex [Au20(PP3)4]4+

The recently solved crystal structure of the [Au20(PP3)4]Cl4 cluster (PP3: tris(2-(diphenylphophino)ethyl)phosphine) is examined using density functional theory (DFT). The Au20 core of the cluster is intrinsically chiral by the arrangement of the Au atoms. This is in contrast to the chirality of thiolate-protected gold clusters, in which the protecting Au-thiolate units are arranged in chiral patterns on achiral cores. We interpret the electronic structure of the [Au20(PP3)4]Cl4 cluster in terms of the superatom complex model. The 16-electron cluster cannot be interpreted as a dimer of 8-electron clusters (which are magic). Instead, a superatomic electron configuration of 1S(2) 1P(6) 1D(6) …

A topological isomer of the Au25(SR)18−nanocluster

Energetically low-lying structural isomers of the much-studied thiolate-protected gold cluster Au25(SR)18− are discovered from extensive (80 ns) molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using the reactive molecular force field ReaxFF and confirmed by density functional theory (DFT). A particularly interesting isomer is found, which is topologically connected to the known crystal structure by a low-barrier collective rotation of the icosahedral Au13 core. The isomerization takes place without breaking of any Au–S bonds. The predicted isomer is essentially iso-energetic with the known Au25(SR)18− structure, but has a distinctly different optical spectrum. It has a significantly larger collision cr…

Photoelectron spectra of aluminum cluster anions: Temperature effects and ab initio simulations

Photoelectron (PES) spectra from aluminum cluster anions (from 12 to 15 atoms) at various temperature regimes, were studied using ab-initio molecular dynamics simulations and experimentally. The calculated PES spectra, obtained via shifting of the simulated electronic densities of states by the self-consistently determined values of the asymptotic exchange-correlation potential, agree well with the measured ones, allowing reliable structural assignments and theoretical estimation of the clusters' temperatures.

Machine Learning for Predicting Chemical Potentials of Multifunctional Organic Compounds in Atmospherically Relevant Solutions

We have trained the Extreme Minimum Learning Machine (EMLM) machine learning model to predict chemical potentials of individual conformers of multifunctional organic compounds containing carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. The model is able to predict chemical potentials of molecules that are in the size range of the training data with a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 0.5 kcal/mol. There is also a linear correlation between calculated and predicted chemical potentials of molecules that are larger than those included in the training set. Finding the lowest chemical potential conformers is useful in condensed phase thermodynamic property calculations, in order to reduce the number of computationa…

Combinatorial Identification of Hydrides in a Ligated Ag40 Nanocluster with Non-compact Metal Core

No formation of bulk silver hydride has been reported. Until very recently, only few silver nanoclusters containing hydrides have been successfully prepared. However, due to the lack of effective techniques and also poor stability of hydride-containing Ag nanoclusters, the identification of hydrides’ location within Ag nanoclusters is challenging and not yet achieved although some successes have been reported on clusters of several Ag atoms. In this work, we report a detailed structural and spectroscopic characterization of the [Ag40(DMBT)24(PPh3)8H12]2+ (Ag40H12) cluster (DMBT=2,4-dimethylbenzenethiol). The metal framework consists of three-concentric shells of Ag8@Ag24@Ag8 which can be de…

Metallization of the Na 14 Cl 13 Cluster

The structure and energetics of multiple-excess-electron alkali halide clusters Na14Cl14-n, (1 ≤ n ≤ 6) is studied by ab initio calculations using norm-conserving pseudopotentials and local-spin-density-functional theory. Analysis of various electronic properties (Kohn-Sham one-electron eigenvalue spectra, ionization potentials, participation ratios of Kohn-Sham orbitals), as well as multiple F-center formation energies, suggests that these clusters can be characterized as Nan(NaCl)14-n having a "phase-separated" metallic part NaI. The Na14Cl9 (or Na14Cl9+) cluster exhibits a face (surface) segregated metallic Na5 (Na5+) overlayer, the stability of which is demonstrated by a molecular-dynam…

Structural, chemical and dynamical trends in graphene grain boundaries

Grain boundaries are topological defects that often have a disordered character. Disorder implies that understanding general trends is more important than accurate investigations of individual grain boundaries. Here we present trends in the grain boundaries of graphene. We use density-functional tight-binding method to calculate trends in energy, atomic structure (polygon composition), chemical reactivity (dangling bond density), corrugation heights (inflection angles), and dynamical properties (vibrations), as a function of lattice orientation mismatch. The observed trends and their mutual interrelations are plausibly explained by structure, and supported by past experiments.

Au102(p-MBA)44 nanocluster, a superatom suitable for bio-applications

Inorganic nanoparticles, including metals, semiconductors and metal oxides, comprise a common set of structures exhibiting an inorganic core ‘passivated’ by an organic shell. Ligated inorganic nanoparticles currently provoke widespread fundamental interest in their structural, optical and magnetic properties, which differ fundamentally from bulk counterparts. These nanomaterials are already finding applications in biology, medicine, solar energy, and display panels. 1-6 Conjugating inorganic nanoparticles with organic (biological) material for applications in nanobiology and nanomedicine creates significant challenges for controlling the effects on the environment, particularly regarding to…

Robust, Highly Luminescent Au13 Superatoms Protected by N-Heterocyclic Carbenes

Gold superatom nanoclusters stabilized entirely by N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) are reported. The reduction of well-defined NHC–Au–Cl complexes produces clusters com-prised of an icosahedral Au13 core surrounded by a symmetrical arrangement of 9 NHCs and 3 chlorides. X-ray crystallography shows that the clusters are characterized by multiple CH–π and π–π interactions, which rigidify the ligand and likely con-tribute to the exceptionally high photoluminescent quantum yields observed, up to 16.0 %, which is significantly greater than the most luminescent ligand-protected Au13 superatom cluster. Density functional theory analysis suggests that clus-ters are 8-electron superatoms with a wide …

Copper-hydride nanoclusters with enhanced stability by N-heterocyclic carbenes

AbstractCopper-hydrides have been intensively studied for a long time due to their utilization in a variety of technologically important chemical transformations. Nevertheless, poor stability of the species severely hinders its isolation, storage and operation, which is worse for nano-sized ones. We report here an unprecedented strategy to access to ultrastable copper-hydride nanoclusters (NCs), namely, using bidentate N-heterocyclic carbenes as stabilizing ligands in addition to thiolates. In this work, a simple synthetic protocol was developed to synthesize the first large copper-hydride nanoclusters (NCs) stabilized by N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs). The NC, with the formula of Cu31(RS)2…

Aktivierung und Elektronentransfer-induzierte Reaktion von Kohlendioxid an einer Oxid-Metall-Grenzfläche

Es wurde ein Modellsystem realisiert, das mittels Elektronentransfer durch eine Metall-Isolator-Metall(MIM)-Struktur die Bildung eines CO2-Radikalanions von aus der Gasphase adsorbiertem Kohlendioxid induziert, welches anschliesend zu Oxalat weiterreagiert. Dieser reversible Prozess gestattet eine Studie der involvierten Elementarschritte auf atomarer Ebene. Die Oxalatspezies an der MIM-Grenzflache wurden mithilfe der Rastertunnelmikroskopie untersucht, chemisch mittels Infrarotspektroskopie identifiziert und ihre Bildung durch Dichtefunktionalrechnungen verifiziert.

Polymorphic and solvate structures of ethyl ester and carboxylic acid derivatives of WIN 61893 analogue and their stability in solution

3-Ethyl ester- (1) and 3-carboxylic acid-isoxazole (2) derivatives of an antiviral drug analogue WIN 61893 were synthesized and characterized by X-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy. Crystallization experiments afforded two polymorphic structures for the ethyl ester derivative and two solvate structures for the carboxylic acid derivative based on their ability to form intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions with the solvent molecules. The conformations of the derivatives depended greatly on the orientation of the planar isoxazole and phenyl-oxadiazole ring systems with respect to one another and were found to take up perpendicular, linear or tilted conformations. The carboxylic a…

Tailoring the interaction between a gold nanocluster and a fluorescent dye by cluster size : creating a toolbox of range-adjustable pH sensors

We present a novel strategy for tailoring the fluorescent azadioxatriangulenium (KU) dye-based pH sensor to the target pH range by regulating the pKa value of the gold nanoclusters. Based on the correlation between the pKa and surface curvature of ligand-protected nanoparticles, the pKa value of the gold nanoclusters was controlled by size. In particular, three different-sized para-mercaptobenzoic acid (p-MBA) protected gold nanoclusters, Au25(p-MBA)18, Au102(p-MBA)44, and Au210–230(p-MBA)70–80 were used as the regulator for the pH range of the KU response. The negatively charged gold nanoclusters enabled the positively charged KU to bind to the surface, forming a complex and quenching the …

Ionization potential of Al6 and A17 as a function of temperature

The temperature-depence of the ionization potential of Al6 and Al7 clusters is studied by using ab initio molecular dynamics. The threshold regions of theoretical photoionization eciency curves are ob- tained from the calculated ionization potential distributions by integration and the determined ionization potentials are compared with the experimental ones. Two important eects, which complicate the determin- ation of ionization potential from photoionization eciency curves, are observed: the thermal tail eect and the isomerization. Also a link between the adiabatic ionization potential and the threshold of the photoion- ization eciency curve is discussed. In the case of Al7, this often use…

Size-Dependent Structural Evolution and Chemical Reactivity of Gold Clusters

Ground-state structures and other experimentally relevant isomers of Au(15) (-) to Au(24) (-) clusters are determined through joint first-principles density functional theory and photoelectron spectroscopy measurements. Subsequent calculations of molecular O(2) adsorption to the optimal cluster structures reveal a size-dependent reactivity pattern that agrees well with earlier experiments. A detailed analysis of the underlying electronic structure shows that the chemical reactivity of the gold cluster anions can be elucidated in terms of a partial-jellium picture, where delocalized electrons occupying electronic shells move over the ionic skeleton, whose geometric structure is strongly infl…

Optical and electronic properties of graphene nanoribbons upon adsorption of ligand-protected aluminum clusters

We have carried out first-principles calculations to investigate how the electronic and optical features of graphene nanoribbons are affected by the presence of atomic clusters. Aluminum clusters of different sizes and stabilized by organic ligands were deposited on graphene nanoribbons from which the energetic features of the adsorption plus electronic structure were treated within density-functional theory. Our results point out that, depending on their size and structure shape, the clusters perturb distinctively the electronic properties of the ribbons. We suggest that such selective response can be measured through optical means revealing that graphene nanoribbons can work as an efficie…

Asymmetric Synthesis of Chiral Bimetallic [Ag28Cu12(SR)24]4- Nanoclusters via Ion Pairing

In this work, a facile ion-pairing strategy for asymmetric synthesis of optically active negatively charged chiral metal nanoparticles using chiral ammonium cations is demonstrated. A new thiolated chiral three-concentric-shell cluster, [Ag28Cu12(SR)24] 4- was first synthesized as a racemic mixture and characterized by single-crystal X-ray structure determination. Mass spectrometric measurements revealed relatively strong ion-pairing interactions between the anionic nanocluster and ammonium cations. Inspired by this observation, the as-prepared racemic mixture was separated into enantiomers by employing chiral quaternary ammonium salts as chiral resolution agents. Subsequently, direct asymm…

Theoretical Analysis of the M12Ag32(SR)404– and X@M12Ag32(SR)304– Nanoclusters (M = Au, Ag; X = H, Mn)

We analyze the electronic structure and optical properties of the recently reported, structurally known M12Ag32(SR)304– clusters (M = Au, Ag) by using density functional theory and time-dependent density functional perturbation theory. Effects of the chemical changes in the metal core, charge of the cluster, and nature of the thiolate ligand on the electronic structure and optical absorption are reported. In addition, doping the metal core with a magnetic transition metal atom (Mn) or hydrogen (protons) is discussed. Although all these clusters can be considered as 18-electron superatoms with a shell configuration 1S2 1P6 1D10, we find that the optical spectrum is sensitive to the charge st…

Adsorption of gold clusters on metal-supported MgO: Correlation to electron affinity of gold

Adsorption of ${\mathrm{Au}}_{N}$ clusters $(N=1\char21{}6)$ on a bulk MgO(001) surface and on an ultrathin (3 ML) MgO(001) film supported by Mo metal is investigated via density-functional theory calculations. Comparison of the two substrates unambiguously shows that the gold clusters adsorbed on $\mathrm{Mg}\mathrm{O}∕\mathrm{Mo}$ turn into singly charged cluster anions ${\mathrm{Au}}_{N}^{\ensuremath{\delta}}$, $\ensuremath{\delta}\ensuremath{\approx}\ensuremath{-}1$. Their structures and internal charging patterns are analogous to singly charged, planar, gas-phase cluster anions ${\mathrm{Au}}_{N}^{\ensuremath{-}}$. The adsorption energy has prominent size-dependent odd-even oscillation…

[Ag67(SPhMe2)32(PPh3)8]3+: Synthesis, Total Structure, and Optical Properties of a Large Box-Shaped Silver Nanocluster

Engineering the surface ligands of metal nanoparticles is critical in designing unique arrangements of metal atoms. Here, we report the synthesis and total structure determination of a large box-shaped Ag67 nanocluster (NC) protected by a mixed shell of thiolate (2,4-dimethylbenzenethiolate, SPhMe2) and phosphine (triphenylphosphine, PPh3) ligands. Single crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) revealed the cluster formula to be [Ag67(SPhMe2)32(PPh3)8]3+. The crystal structure shows an Ag23 metal core covered by a layer of Ag44S32P8 arranged in the shape of a box. The Ag23 core was formed through an unprecedented centered cuboctahedron, i.e.,…

Structural Evolution of Atomically Precise Thiolated Bimetallic [Au12+nCu32(SR)30+n]4– (n = 0, 2, 4, 6) Nanoclusters

A series of all-thiol stabilized bimetallic Au-Cu nanoclusters, [Au(12+n)Cu32(SR)(30+n)](4-) (n = 0, 2, 4, 6 and SR = SPhCF3), are successfully synthesized and characterized by X-ray single-crystal analysis and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Each cluster consists of a Keplerate two-shell Au12@Cu20 core protected by (6 - n) units of Cu2(SR)5 and n units of Cu2Au(SR)6 (n = 0, 2, 4, 6) motifs on its surface. The size and structural evolution of the clusters is atomically controlled by the Au precursors and countercations used in the syntheses. The clusters exhibit similar optical absorption properties that are not dependent on the number of surface Cu2Au(SR)6 units. Although DFT…

Symmetry and Electronic Structure of Noble Metal Nanoparticles and the Role of Relativity

High resolution photoelectron spectra of cold mass selected Cu_n-, Ag_n- and Au_n- with n =53-58 have been measured at a photon energy of 6.42 eV. The observed electron density of states is not the expected simple electron shell structure, but seems to be strongly influenced by electron-lattice interactions. Only Cu55- and Ag55- exhibit highly degenerate states. This is a direct consequence of their icosahedral symmetry, as is confirmed by density functional theory calculations. Neighboring sizes exhibit perturbed electronic structures, as they are formed by removal or addition of atoms to the icosahedron and therefore have lower symmetries. Gold clusters in the same size range show complet…

Dynamic Stabilization of the Ligand-Metal Interface in Atomically Precise Gold Nanoclusters Au68 and Au144 Protected by meta-Mercaptobenzoic Acid

Ligand-stabilized, atomically precise gold nanoclusters with a metal core of a uniform size of just 1-3 nm constitute an interesting class of nanomaterials with versatile possibilities for applications due to their size-dependent properties and modifiable ligand layers. The key to extending the usability of the clusters in applications is to understand the chemical bonding in the ligand layer as a function of cluster size and ligand structure. Previously, it has been shown that monodispersed gold nanoclusters, stabilized by meta-mercaptobenzoic acid (m-MBA or 3-MBA) ligands and with sizes of 68-144 gold atoms, show ambient stability. Here we show that a combination of nuclear magnetic reson…

Molecular-dynamics study of copper with defects under strain

Mechanical properties of copper with various types of defects have been studied with the molecular-dynamics method and the effective-medium theory potential both at room temperature and near zero temperature. The loading has been introduced as constant rate straining and the dynamics of the process region of fracture is purely Newtonian. With the model three types of defects were studied: point defects, grain boundary, and an initial void serving as a crack seed. Point defects were seen to decrease the system strength in terms of fracture stress, fracture strain, and elastic modulus. Due to random microstructure, highly disordered systems turned out to be isotropic, which on the other hand …

Characterization of Iron−Carbonyl-Protected Gold Clusters

Ligand-stabilized nanometer-sized gold particles are interesting building blocks for molecular electronics, precursors for catalysts, optical labels for biomolecules and diagnosis, and potential nontoxic carriers for therapeutics. In this work we characterize for the first time, by means of near-infrared and Raman spectroscopy and time-dependent density functional calculations, gold clusters protected with iron-carbonyl ligands, such as {Au(22)[Fe(CO)(4)](12)}(6-) shown in the figure. Surprisingly, our results show that these novel compounds bear many analogues to another, well-studied, class of gold clusters, namely those of thiolate-monolayer-protected gold clusters. Our work adds a new d…

A DFT Study of Linear Gold–Thiolate Superclusters Absorbing in the Therapeutic NIR Window

A series of linear clusters up to an aspect ratio of 1:6, formed as multimers of smaller clusters with an icosahedral Au13(5+) core having an eight-electron superatom configuration, are computationally predicted to have a greatly enhanced size-dependent absorption in the near-infrared (NIR) region extending to the biologically important NIR window. A novel structural model is presented for the previously isolated thiol-stabilized Au54(SR)30 cluster, where the metal core is formed as a heterodimer of the cores of the known Au25(SR)18(-/0) and Au38(SR)24 clusters.

Atomic Layer Deposition of Aluminum Oxide on TiO2 and Its Impact on N3 Dye Adsorption from First Principles

The atomic layer deposition of aluminum oxide on an OH-terminated TiO2(101) anatase surface was studied employing density functional theory calculations. The formation of the Al2O3−TiO2 interface during the first atomic layer deposition cycle was modeled by studying the dissociative adsorption of an Al(CH3)3 precursor, followed with a H2O-pulse reaction step that changes the surface termination. Calculations provide evidence for the formation of a discontinuous, atomically rough aluminum oxide layer after the first cycle. To explore the role of the aluminum oxide layer on adsorption of a ruthenium-based N3 dye molecule, various adsorption geometries were investigated. Calculations show that…

Self-consistent GW calculations of electronic transport in thiol- and amine-linked molecular junctions

The electronic conductance of a benzene molecule connected to gold electrodes via thiol, thiolate, or amino anchoring groups is calculated using nonequilibrium Green functions in combination with the fully self-consistent GW approximation for exchange and correlation. The calculated conductance of benzenedithiol and benzenediamine is one-fifth that predicted by standard density functional theory (DFT), in very good agreement with experiments. In contrast, the widely studied benzenedithiolate structure is found to have a significantly higher conductance due to the unsaturated sulfur bonds. These findings suggest that more complex gold-thiolate structures where the thiolate anchors are chemic…

Protected Metallic Clusters, Quantum Wells and Metal-Nanocrystal Molecules

Metal clusters on an inert surface: A simple model

The shapes of metal clusters (with 2 to 14 valence electrons) on an inert surface are studied with a simple model based on the ultimate jellium model. It is shown that within certain approximations the surface-cluster interaction can be described with an external potential in the Kohn-Sham method. No restrictions for the cluster geometry are imposed. The results show that depending on the strength of the interaction and on the size of the cluster, the ground state is either planar or three-dimensional, but in many cases both geometries are stable and there is a marked energy barrier between them. The results agree qualitatively with ab initio calculations of Na clusters on a NaCl(100) surfa…

Binding Behavior of Carbonmonoxide to Gold Atoms on Ag(001)

AbstractThe adsorption behavior of single CO molecules at 4 K bound to Au adatoms on a Ag(001) metal surface is studied with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy (IETS). In contrast to earlier observations two different binding configurations are observed—one on top of a Au adatom and the other one adsorbed laterally to Au on Ag(001). Moreover, IETS reveals different low-energy vibrational energies for the two binding sites as compared to the one for a single CO molecule bound to Ag(001). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations of the adsorption energies, the diffusion barriers, and the vibrational frequencies of the CO molecule on the diffe…

Reversible isomerization of metal nanoclusters induced by intermolecular interaction

Most inorganic nanoparticles are directly surface-terminated (and -stabilized) by protecting ligands, which could greatly affect the atomic packing and physical/chemical properties of their inorganic cores. Here, we show that the intermolecular interactions between the adsorbed molecules and surface ligands can also affect the core structure of inorganic nanoparticles. Through the coupling/decoupling of cationic surfactants (cetyltrimethylammonium cations, CTA+) and anionic surface ligands (para-mercaptobenzoic acid, p-MBA) in the aqueous phase, we have achieved a reversible transformation between two isomers of [Au25(p-MBA)18]− nanoclusters. The interconversion process between the two isom…

Melting and multipole deformation of sodium clusters

Melting and multipole deformations of sodium clusters with up to 55 atoms are studied using an ab initio molecular dynamics method. The melting temperature regions for Na20, Na40, and Na 55 + are estimated. The melting temperature region determined here for Na 55 + agrees with the one determined experimentally. The dominating deformation type observed at the liquid phase for Na20 and Na40 is octupole deformation and for Na14 and Na 55 + quadrupole deformation.

A small spherical liquid: A DFT molecular dynamics study of WAu12

The finite-temperature dynamics of WAu12, incorporating both electronic and structural effects, is studied using a density-functional-based Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics method. Molecular dynamics simulations for monomolecular WAu12 suggest a surface-melting-type behaviour of the angular degrees of freedom between 366 and 512 K. Thermally averaged electron density-of-states of WAu12 are compared to the experimental photoelectron spectra of WAu12(-).

Experimental Confirmation of a Topological Isomer of the Ubiquitous Au25(SR)18 Cluster in the Gas Phase

High-resolution electrospray ionization ion mobility mass spectrometry has revealed a gas-phase isomer of the ubiquitous, extremely well-studied Au25(SR)18 cluster both in anionic and cationic form. The relative abundance of the isomeric structures can be controlled by in-source activation. The measured collision cross section of the new isomer agrees extremely well with a recent theoretical prediction (Matus, M. F.; et al. Chem. Commun. 2020, 56, 8087) corresponding to a Au25(SR)18– isomer that is energetically close and topologically connected to the known ground-state structure via a simple rotation of the gold core without breaking any Au–S bonds. The results imply that the structural d…

Supramolecular functionalization and concomitant enhancement in properties of Au25 clusters

We present a versatile approach for tuning the surface functionality of an atomically precise 25 atom gold cluster using specific host-guest interactions between ?-cyclodextrin (CD) and the ligand anchored on the cluster. The supramolecular interaction between the Au25 cluster protected by 4-(t-butyl)benzyl mercaptan, labeled Au25SBB18, and CD yielding Au25SBB18�?�CDn (n = 1, 2, 3, and 4) has been probed experimentally using various spectroscopic techniques and was further analyzed by density functional theory calculations and molecular modeling. The viability of our method in modifying the properties of differently functionalized Au25 clusters is demonstrated. Besides modifying their optoe…

One-pot synthesis and characterization of subnanometre-size benzotriazolate protected copper clusters

A simple one-pot method for the preparation of subnanometre-size benzotriazolate (BTA) protected copper clusters, Cu(n)BTA(m), is reported. The clusters were analyzed by optical and infrared spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and transmission electron microscopy together with computational methods. We suggest a structural motif where the copper core of the Cu(n)BTA(m) clusters is protected by BTA-Cu(i)-BTA units.

Photoelectron spectra from first principles: from the many-body to the single-particle picture

We derive a many-body method to evaluate photoelectron spectra of atoms, molecules and clusters from first principles. The excitation energies and the spectroscopic factors are calculated from the linear-response time-dependent density functional theory. The method is applied to noble metal anions, anionic clusters and to neutral small molecules. Our approach shows significant improvement over a simple single-particle treatment and gives an insight into the necessary conditions under which the single-particle picture holds. The consideration of the spectroscopic factor is shown to be crucial for the correct description of inner valence photoelectron peaks.

Dynamic Diglyme-Mediated Self-Assembly of Gold Nanoclusters

We report the assembly of gold nanoclusters by the nonthiolate ligand diglyme into discrete and dynamic assemblies. To understand this surprising phenomenon, the assembly of Au20(SC2H4Ph)15-diglyme into Au20(SC2H4Ph)15-diglyme-Au20(SC2H4Ph)15 is explored in detail. The assembly is examined by high-angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy, size exclusion chromatography, mass spectrometry, IR spectroscopy, and calorimetry. We establish a dissociation constant for dimer to monomer conversion of 20.4 μM. Theoretical models validated by transient absorption spectroscopy predict a low-spin monomer and a high-spin dimer, with assembly enabled through weak diglyme oxygen-g…

A method for detecting vacancy diffusion in molecular dynamics

Total Structure and Electronic Structure Analysis of Doped Thiolated Silver [MAg24(SR)18]2– (M = Pd, Pt) Clusters

With the incorporation of Pd or Pt atoms, thiolated Ag-rich 25-metal-atom nanoclusters were successfully prepared and structurally characterized for the first time. With a composition of [PdAg24(SR)18](2-) or [PtAg24(SR)18](2-), the obtained 25-metal-atom nanoclusters have a metal framework structure similar to that of widely investigated Au25(SR)18. In both clusters, a M@Ag12 (M = Pd, Pt) core is capped by six distorted dimeric -RS-Ag-SR-Ag-SR- units. However, the silver-thiolate overlayer gives rise to a geometric chirality at variance to Au25(SR)18. The effect of doping on the electronic structure was studied through measured optical absorption spectra and ab initio analysis. This work d…

Highly Robust but Surface-Active: N-Heterocyclic Carbene-Stabilized Au25 Nanocluster as a Homogeneous Catalyst

<div> <div> <div> <p>Surface organic ligands play a critical role in stabilizing atomically precise metal nanoclusters in solutions. However, it is still challenging to prepare highly robust ligated metal nanoclusters that are surface-active for liquid-phase catalysis without any pre-treatment. Herein, we report a novel N-heterocyclic carbine-stabilized Au25 nanocluster with high thermal and air stabilities as a homogenous catalyst for cycloisomerization of alkynyl amines to indoles. The nanocluster, characterized as [Au25(iPr2-bimy)10Br7]2+ (iPr2-bimy=diisopropyl-benzilidazolium) (1), was synthesized by direct reduction of AuSMe2Cl and iPr2- bimyAuBr with NaBH4 in o…

Ag11(SG)7 : A New Cluster Identified by Mass Spectrometry and Optical Spectroscopy

We report a one-step and high yield synthesis of a red-luminescent silver cluster with the molecular formula, Ag11(SG)7 (SG: glutathionate) via reduction of silver ions by sodium borohydride in the presence of the tripeptide, glutathione (GSH). The as-prepared cluster shows prominent absorption features at 485 and 625 nm in its UV-vis absorption spectrum. Aging of the as-prepared cluster solution led to the disappearance of the 625 nm peak, followed by broadening of the 485 nm peak to give three maxima at ?487, 437, and 393 nm in its absorption spectrum. These peaks remain unchanged even after polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), where a single band was observed confirming high purity…

Asymmetric Synthesis of Chiral Bimetallic [Ag28Cu12(SR)24]4– Nanoclusters via Ion Pairing

In this work, a facile ion-pairing strategy for asymmetric synthesis of optically active negatively charged chiral metal nanoparticles using chiral ammonium cations is demonstrated. A new thiolated chiral three-concentric-shell cluster, [Ag28Cu12(SR)24]4–, was first synthesized as a racemic mixture and characterized by single-crystal X-ray structure determination. Mass spectrometric measurements revealed relatively strong ion-pairing interactions between the anionic nanocluster and ammonium cations. Inspired by this observation, the as-prepared racemic mixture was separated into enantiomers by employing chiral quaternary ammonium salts as chiral resolution agents. Subsequently, direct asymm…

Highly Robust but Surface‐Active: An N‐Heterocyclic Carbene‐Stabilized Au 25 Nanocluster

Surface organic ligands play a critical role in stabilizing atomically precise metal nanoclusters in solutions. However, it is still challenging to prepare highly robust ligated metal nanoclusters that are surface-active for liquid-phase catalysis without any pre-treatment. Now, an N-heterocyclic carbene-stabilized Au25 nanocluster with high thermal and air stabilities is presented as a homogenous catalyst for cycloisomerization of alkynyl amines to indoles. The nanocluster, characterized as [Au25 (i Pr2 -bimy)10 Br7 ]2+ (i Pr2 -bimy=1,3-diisopropylbenzimidazolin-2-ylidene) (1), was synthesized by direct reduction of AuSMe2 Cl and i Pr2 -bimyAuBr with NaBH4 in one pot. X-ray crystallization…

Vibrational Perturbations and Ligand–Layer Coupling in a Single Crystal of Au144(SC2H4Ph)60 Nanocluster

We have determined vibrational signatures and optical gap of the Au144(PET)60 (PET: phenylethylthiol, SC2H4Ph) nanocluster solvated in deuterated dichloromethane (DCM-D2, CD2Cl2) and in a single crystal. For crystals, solid-state (13)C NMR and X-ray diffraction were also measured. A revised value of 2200 cm(-1) (0.27 eV) was obtained for the optical gap in both phases. The vibrational spectra of solvated AU144(PET)60 closely resembles that of neat PET, while the crystalline-state spectrum exhibits significant inhomogeneous spectral broadening, frequency shifts, intensity transfer between vibrational modes, and an increase in the overtone and combination transition intensities. Spectral broa…

[Pt2Cu34(PET)22Cl4]2–: An Atomically Precise, 10-Electron PtCu Bimetal Nanocluster with a Direct Pt–Pt Bond

Heteroatom-doped metal nanoclusters (NCs) are highly desirable to gain fundamental insights into the effect of doping on the electronic structure and catalytic properties. Unfortunately, their controlled synthesis is highly challenging when the metal atomic sizes are largely different (e.g., Cu and Pt). Here, we design a metal-exchange strategy that enables simultaneous doping and resizing of NCs. Specifically, [Pt2Cu34(PET)22Cl4]2- NC, the first example of a Pt-doped Cu NC, is synthesized by utilizing the unique reactivity of [Cu32(PET)24Cl2H8]2- NC with Pt4+ ions. The single-crystal X-ray structure reveals that two directly bonded Pt atoms occupy the two centers of an unusually interpenet…

Exploring the atomic structure of 1.8 nm monolayer-protected gold clusters with aberration-corrected STEM

Abstract Monolayer-protected (MP) Au clusters present attractive quantum systems with a range of potential applications e.g. in catalysis. Knowledge of the atomic structure is needed to obtain a full understanding of their intriguing physical and chemical properties. Here we employed aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (ac-STEM), combined with multislice simulations, to make a round-robin investigation of the atomic structure of chemically synthesised clusters with nominal composition Au 144 (SCH 2 CH 2 Ph) 60 provided by two different research groups. The MP Au clusters were “weighed” by the atom counting method, based on their integrated intensities in the high …

Reversible Supracolloidal Self-Assembly of Cobalt Nanoparticles to Hollow Capsids and Their Superstructures

| openaire: EC/FP7/291364/EU//MIMEFUN The synthesis and spontaneous, reversible supracolloidal hydrogen bond-driven self-assembly of cobalt nanoparticles (CoNPs) into hollow shell-like capsids and their directed assembly to higher order superstructures is presented. CoNPs and capsids form in one step upon mixing dicobalt octacarbonyl (Co2CO8) and p-aminobenzoic acid (pABA) in 1,2-dichlorobenzene using heating-up synthesis without additional catalysts or stabilizers. This leads to pABA capped CoNPs (core ca. 5nm) with a narrow size distribution. They spontaneously assemble into tunable spherical capsids (d≈50-200nm) with a few-layered shells, as driven by inter-nanoparticle hydrogen bonds th…

Electronic Structure and Bonding of Icosahedral Core–Shell Gold–Silver Nanoalloy Clusters Au144–xAgx(SR)60

Atomically precise thiolate-stabilized gold nanoclusters are currently of interest for many cross-disciplinary applications in chemistry, physics and molecular biology. Very recently, synthesis and electronic properties of "nanoalloy" clusters Au_(144-x)Ag_x(SR)_60 were reported. Here, density functional theory is used for electronic structure and bonding in Au_(144-x)Ag_x(SR)_60 based on a structural model of the icosahedral Au_144(SR)_60 that features a 114-atom metal core with 60 symmetry-equivalent surface sites, and a protecting layer of 30 RSAuSR units. In the optimal configuration the 60 surface sites of the core are occupied by silver in Au_84Ag_60(SR)_60. Silver enhances the electr…

The Role of the Anchor Atom in the Ligand of the Monolayer-Protected Au25(XR)18– Nanocluster

We present a density functional theory (DFT) investigation on the role of the anchor atom and ligand on the structural, electronic, and optical properties of the anionic Au25(XR)18– nanocluster (X = S, Se, Te; R = H, CH3, and (CH2)2Ph). Substituting the anchor atom with other group 16 elements induces subtle changes in the Au–Au and Au–X bond lengths and polarization of the covalent bond. The changes in the electronic structure based on substituting both the anchor and R groups are presented through careful analysis of the density of states and theoretical determined optical spectra. We give a detailed side-by-side comparison into the structural, electronic, and optical properties of Au25(X…

Co-crystallization of atomically precise metal nanoparticles driven by magic atomic and electronic shells

This paper reports co-crystallization of two atomically precise, different-size ligand-stabilized nanoclusters, a spherical (AuAg)267(SR)80 and a smaller trigonal-prismatic (AuAg)45(SR)27(PPh3)6 in 1:1 ratio, characterized fully by X-ray crystallographic analysis (SR = 2,4-SPhMe2). The larger cluster has a four concentric-shell icosahedral structure of Ag@M12@M42@M92@Ag120(SR)80 (M = Au or Ag) with the inner-core M147 icosahedron observed here for metal nanoparticles. The cluster has an open electron shell of 187 delocalized electrons, fully metallic, plasmonic behavior, and a zero HOMO-LUMO energy gap. The smaller cluster has an 18-electron shell closing, a notable HOMO-LUMO energy gap and…

Charge Transfer Plasmons in Dimeric Electron Clusters

The tunability of the optical response of dimers of metal clusters and nanoparticles makes them ideal for many applications from sensing and imaging to inducing chemical reactions. We have studied charge transfer plasmons in separate and linked dimers of closed-shell electron clusters of 8 and 138 electrons using time-dependent density functional theory. The simple model clusters enable the systematic study of the charge transfer phenomenon from the electronic perspective. To identify the charge transfer plasmons, we have developed an index, the Charge Transfer Ratio, for quantifying the charge transfer nature of the excitations. In addition, we analyze the induced transition density and th…

Pd2Au36(SR)(24) cluster: structure studies

The location of the Pd atoms in Pd2Au36(SC2H4Ph)(24), is studied both experimentally and theoretically. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) indicates oxidized Pd atoms. Palladium K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine-structure (EXAFS) data clearly show Pd-S bonds, which is supported by far infrared spectroscopy and by comparing theoretical EXAFS spectra in R space and circular dichroism spectra of the staple, surface and core doped structures with experimental spectra.

From Symmetry Breaking to Unraveling the Origin of the Chirality of Ligated Au13 Cu2 Nanoclusters

A general method, using mixed ligands (here diphosphines and thiolates) is devised to turn an achiral metal cluster, Au13 Cu2 , into an enantiomeric pair by breaking (lowering) the overall molecular symmetry with the ligands. Using an achiral diphosphine, a racemic [Au13 Cu2 (DPPP)3 (SPy)6 ]+ was prepared which crystallizes in centrosymmetric space groups. Using chiral diphosphines, enantioselective synthesis of an optically pure, enantiomeric pair of [Au13 Cu2 ((2r,4r)/(2s,4s)-BDPP)3 (SPy)6 ]+ was achieved in one pot. Their circular dichroism (CD) spectra give perfect mirror images in the range of 250-500 nm with maximum anisotropy factors of 1.2×10-3 . DFT calculations provided good corre…

Density-functional based tight-binding study of small gold clusters

In this paper, we report the ability of self-consistent-charge density-functional based tight-binding method to describe small gold clusters. We concentrate our investigations mainly on anions, and find that the method describes their geometric and electronic structures fairly well, in comparison with density-functional calculations. In particular, the method correctly reproduces the planarity of ground-state structures up to cluster sizes in agreement with experiment and density-functional theory.

Jahn–Teller effects in Au25(SR)18

The relationship between oxidation state, structure, and magnetism in many molecules is well described by first-order Jahn–Teller distortions. This relationship is not yet well defined for ligated nanoclusters and nanoparticles, especially the nano-technologically relevant gold-thiolate protected metal clusters. Here we interrogate the relationships between structure, magnetism, and oxidation state for the three stable oxidation states, 1, 0 and +1 of the thiolate protected nanocluster Au25(SR)18. We present the single crystal X-ray structures of the previously undetermined charge state Au25(SR)18+1, as well as a higher quality single crystal structure of the neutral compound Au25(SR)180 . …

Superatomic S2 Silver Clusters Stabilized by a Thiolate–Phosphine Monolayer: Insight into Electronic and Optical Properties of Ag14(SC6H3F2)12(PPh3)8 and Ag16(SC6H3F2)14(DPPE)4

The electronic structure of two recently crystallographically solved, thiolate–phosphine protected silver clusters Ag14 and Ag16 are analyzed via density functional theory (DFT) and their optical excitations are analyzed from time-dependent DFT perturbation theory. Both clusters can be characterized as having the S2 free-electron configuration in the metal core, which is the first time such a configuration is confirmed for structurally known ligand-protected noble metal clusters. However, their different core shapes and ligand layer induce significantly different optical spectra. Performance of gradient-corrected DFT functionals is discussed and it is shown that the asymptotically correct L…

Ab initio molecular dynamics studies of Au38(SR)24 isomers under heating

Despite the great success in achieving monodispersity for a great number of monolayer-protected clusters, to date little is known about the dynamics of these ultra-small metal systems, their decomposition mechanisms, and the energy that separates their structural isomers. In this work, we use density functional theory (DFT) to calculate and compare the ground state energy and the Born-Oppenheimer molecular dynamics of two well-known Au 38 (SCH 2 CH 2 Ph) 24 nanocluster isomers. The aim is to shed light on the energy difference between the two clusters isomers and analyze their decomposition mechanisms triggered by high temperatures. The results demonstrate that the energy that separates the…

Analysis of the plasmonic excitations in assemblies of three-dimensional electron clusters

In the quest to built novel metamaterials with unique optical properties, three-dimensional assemblies of metal clusters and nanoparticles are gathering significant attention. Organized geometries, such as tetrahedra and icosahedra, can be built, for example, by using DNA strands or virus capsids as templates. Here we use the jellium model and time-dependent density functional theory to study the plasmonic resonances in different arrangements of eight-electron clusters from the electronic perspective. A charge transfer ratio index based on the induced transition densities is used to quantify the charge transfer nature of the excitations at different energies. We vary the size, shape, and in…

Analysis of Localized Surface Plasmon Resonances in Spherical Jellium Clusters and Their Assemblies

Due to multiple possible applications of physico-chemical properties of plasmonic metal nanoparticles and particle systems, there is high interest to understand the mechanisms that underlie the birth of localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). Here we studied the birth of the LSPR in spherical jellium clusters with the density of sodium and with 8, 20, 34, 40, 58, 92, 138, and 186 electrons, by using the linear response time-dependent density functional theory (lr-TDDFT). The coupling of the individual plasmon resonances in dimer, trimer, tetramer, and hexamer cluster assemblies consisting of the 8-electron cluster was also studied. The Kohn-Sham electron-hole transitions contributing to…

Au70S20(PPh3)12: an intermediate sized metalloid gold cluster stabilized by the Au4S4 ring motif and Au-PPh3 groups

Reducing (Ph3P)AuSC(SiMe3)3 with L-Selectride® gives the medium-sized metalloid gold cluster Au70S20(PPh3)12. Computational studies show that the phosphine bound Au-atoms not only stabilize the electronic structure of Au70S20(PPh3)12, but also behave as electron acceptors leading to auride-like gold atoms on the exterior.

Site Preference in Multimetallic Nanoclusters: Incorporation of Alkali Metal Ions or Copper Atoms into the Alkynyl-Protected Body-Centered Cubic Cluster [Au7Ag8(C≡CtBu)12]+

The synthesis, structure, substitution chemistry, and optical properties of the gold-centered cubic monocationic cluster [Au@Ag8@Au6(C≡CtBu)12]+ are reported. The metal framework of this cluster can be described as a fragment of a body-centered cubic (bcc) lattice with the silver and gold atoms occupying the vertices and the body center of the cube, respectively. The incorporation of alkali metal atoms gave rise to [MnAg8−nAu7(C≡CtBu)12]+ clusters (n=1 for M=Na, K, Rb, Cs and n=2 for M=K, Rb), with the alkali metal ion(s) presumably occupying the vertex site(s), whereas the incorporation of copper atoms produced [CunAg8Au7−n(C≡CtBu)12]+ clusters (n=1–6), with the Cu atom(s) presumably occup…

Chiral Inversion of Thiolate-Protected Gold Nanoclusters via Core Reconstruction without Breaking an Au-S Bond

On the basis of density functional theory computations of the well-known chiral Au38(SR)24 nanocluster and its Pd- and Ag-doped derivatives, we propose here a mechanism for chiral inversion that does not require the breaking of a metal-sulfur bond at the metal-ligand interface but features a collective rotation of the gold core. The calculated energy barriers for this mechanism for Au38 and Pd-doped Au38 are in the range of 1-1.5 eV, significantly lower than barriers involving the breakage of Au-S bonds (2.5 eV). For Ag-doped Au38, barriers for both mechanisms are similar (1.3-1.5 eV). Inversion barriers for a larger chiral Au144(SR)60 are much higher (2.5-2.8 eV). Our computed barriers are…

Dynamics of weak interactions in the ligand layer of meta-mercaptobenzoic acid protected gold nanoclusters Au68(m-MBA)32 and Au144(m-MBA)40

Atomically precise metal nanoclusters, stabilized and functionalized by organic ligands, are emerging nanomaterials with potential applications in plasmonics, nano-electronics, bio-imaging, nanocatalysis, and as therapeutic agents or drug carriers in nanomedicine. The ligand layer has an important role in modifying the physico-chemical properties of the clusters and in defining the interactions between the clusters and the environment. While this role is well recognized from a great deal of experimental studies, there is very little theoretical information on dynamical processes within the layer itself. Here, we have performed extensive molecular dynamics simulations, with forces calculated…

CCDC 2093430: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Zhaoxian Qin, Junhui Wang, Sachil Sharma, Sami Malola, Kaifeng Wu, Hannu Häkkinen, Gao Li|2021|J.Phys.Chem.Lett.|12|10920|doi:10.1021/acs.jpclett.1c02863

CCDC 1020498: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

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CCDC 2054076: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Guocheng Deng, Sami Malola, Peng Yuan, Xianhu Liu, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen, Nanfeng Zheng|2021|Angew.Chem.,Int.Ed.|60|12897|doi:10.1002/anie.202101141

CCDC 1044958: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Tiia-Riikka Tero, Kirsi Salorinne, Sami Malola, Hannu Häkkinen, Maija Nissinen|2015|CrystEngComm|17|8231|doi:10.1039/C5CE01144B

CCDC 999257: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

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CCDC 1469852: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Yu Wang, Xian-Kai Wan, Liting Ren, Haifeng Su, Gang Li, Sami Malola, Shuichao Lin, Zichao Tang, Hannu Häkkinen, Boon K Teo, Quan-Ming Wang, and Nanfeng Zheng|2016|J.Am.Chem.Soc.|138|3278|doi:10.1021/jacs.5b12730

CCDC 1521591: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Mohammad J. Alhilaly, Megalamane S. Bootharaju, Chakra P. Joshi, Tabot M. Besong, Abdul-Hamid Emwas, Rosalba Juarez-Mosqueda, Sami Kaappa, Sami Malola, Karim Adil, Aleksander Shkurenko, Hannu Häkkinen, Mohamed Eddaoudi, and Osman M. Bakr|2016|J.Am.Chem.Soc.|138|14727|doi:10.1021/jacs.6b09007

CCDC 999254: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Kirsi Salorinne, Tanja Lahtinen, Varpu Marjomäki, Hannu Häkkinen|2014|CrystEngComm|16|9001|doi:10.1039/C4CE01152J

CCDC 930278: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Kaisa Helttunen, Lauri Lehtovaara, Hannu Häkkinen, and Maija Nissinen|2013|Cryst.Growth Des.|13|3603|doi:10.1021/cg4005714

CCDC 930279: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Kaisa Helttunen, Lauri Lehtovaara, Hannu Häkkinen, and Maija Nissinen|2013|Cryst.Growth Des.|13|3603|doi:10.1021/cg4005714

CCDC 2050535: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Hui Shen, Lingzheng Wang, Omar López-Estrada, Chengyi Hu, Qingyuan Wu, Dongxu Cao, Sami Malola, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen, Nanfeng Zheng|2021|Nano Res.|14|3303|doi:10.1007/s12274-021-3389-9

CCDC 1020499: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Huayan Yang , Yu Wang , Juanzhu Yan , Xi Chen , Xin Zhang , Hannu Häkkinen , and Nanfeng Zheng|2014|J.Am.Chem.Soc.|136|7197|doi:10.1021/ja501811j

CCDC 1530605: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Huayan Yang, Juanzhu Yan, Yu Wang, Haifeng Su, Lars Gell, Xiaojing Zhao, Chaofa Xu, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen , and Nanfeng Zheng|2017|J.Am.Chem.Soc.|139|31|doi:10.1021/jacs.6b10053

CCDC 1055143: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Marcus A. Tofanelli, Kirsi Salorinne, Thomas W. Ni, Sami Malola, Brian Newell, Billy Phillips, Hannu Häkkinen, Christopher J. Ackerson|2016|Chemical Science|7|1882|doi:10.1039/C5SC02134K

CCDC 2096619: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Hui Shen, Zhen Xu, Lingzheng Wang, Ying-Zi Han, Xianhu Liu, Sami Malola, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen, Nanfeng Zheng|2021|Angew.Chem.,Int.Ed.|60|22411|doi:10.1002/anie.202108141

CCDC 2054077: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Guocheng Deng, Sami Malola, Peng Yuan, Xianhu Liu, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen, Nanfeng Zheng|2021|Angew.Chem.,Int.Ed.|60|12897|doi:10.1002/anie.202101141

CCDC 1543483: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Liting Ren, Peng Yuan, Haifeng Su, Sami Malola, Shuichao Lin, Zichao Tang, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen , Lansun Zheng, and Nanfeng Zheng|2017|J.Am.Chem.Soc.|139|13288|doi:10.1021/jacs.7b07926

CCDC 1496141: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Huayan Yang, Yu Wang, Xi Chen, Xiaojing Zhao, Lin Gu, Huaqi Huang, Juanzhu Yan, Chaofa Xu, Gang Li, Junchao Wu, Alison J. Edwards, Birger Dittrich, Zichao Tang, Dongdong Wang, Lauri Lehtovaara, Hannu Häkkinen, Nanfeng Zheng|2016|Nat.Commun.|7|12809|doi:10.1038/ncomms12809

CCDC 1530607: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Huayan Yang, Juanzhu Yan, Yu Wang, Haifeng Su, Lars Gell, Xiaojing Zhao, Chaofa Xu, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen , and Nanfeng Zheng|2017|J.Am.Chem.Soc.|139|31|doi:10.1021/jacs.6b10053

CCDC 1530606: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Huayan Yang, Juanzhu Yan, Yu Wang, Haifeng Su, Lars Gell, Xiaojing Zhao, Chaofa Xu, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen , and Nanfeng Zheng|2017|J.Am.Chem.Soc.|139|31|doi:10.1021/jacs.6b10053

CCDC 1530604: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Huayan Yang, Juanzhu Yan, Yu Wang, Haifeng Su, Lars Gell, Xiaojing Zhao, Chaofa Xu, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen , and Nanfeng Zheng|2017|J.Am.Chem.Soc.|139|31|doi:10.1021/jacs.6b10053

CCDC 1998895: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Hui Shen, Zhen Xu, Maryam Sabooni Asre Hazer, Qingyuan Wu, Jiang Peng, Ruixuan Qin, Sam Malola, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen, Nanfeng Zheng|2020|Angew.Chem.,Int.Ed.|60|3752|doi:10.1002/anie.202013718

CCDC 1020496: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Huayan Yang , Yu Wang , Juanzhu Yan , Xi Chen , Xin Zhang , Hannu Häkkinen , and Nanfeng Zheng|2014|J.Am.Chem.Soc.|136|7197|doi:10.1021/ja501811j

CCDC 1814032: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Guocheng Deng, Sami Malola, Juanzhu Yan, Yingzi Han, Peng Yuan, Chaowei Zhao, Xiting Yuan, Shuichao Lin, Zichao Tang, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen, Nanfeng Zheng|2018|Angew.Chem.,Int.Ed.|57|3421|doi:10.1002/anie.201800327

CCDC 1044955: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Tiia-Riikka Tero, Kirsi Salorinne, Sami Malola, Hannu Häkkinen, Maija Nissinen|2015|CrystEngComm|17|8231|doi:10.1039/C5CE01144B

CCDC 1851619: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Cunfa Sun, Nisha Mammen, Sami Kaappa, Peng Yuan, Guocheng Deng, Chaowei Zhao, Juanzhu Yan, Sami Malola, Karoliina Honkala, Hannu Häkkinen, Boon K. Teo, Nanfeng Zheng|2019|ACS Nano|13|5975|doi:10.1021/acsnano.9b02052

CCDC 1428884: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Juanzhu Yan, Haifeng Su, Huayan Yang, Sami Malola, Shuichao Lin, Hannu Häkkinen, and Nanfeng Zheng|2015|J.Am.Chem.Soc.|137|11880|doi:10.1021/jacs.5b07186

CCDC 1985367: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Kirsi Salorinne, Renee W. Y. Man, Paul A. Lummis, Maryam Sabooni Asre Hazer, Sami Malola, Jacky C.-H. Yim, Alex J. Veinot, Wenxia Zhou, Hannu Häkkinen, Masakazu Nambo, Cathleen M. Crudden|2020|Chem.Commun.|56|6102|doi:10.1039/D0CC01482F

CCDC 2096621: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Hui Shen, Zhen Xu, Lingzheng Wang, Ying-Zi Han, Xianhu Liu, Sami Malola, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen, Nanfeng Zheng|2021|Angew.Chem.,Int.Ed.|60|22411|doi:10.1002/anie.202108141

CCDC 930281: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Kaisa Helttunen, Lauri Lehtovaara, Hannu Häkkinen, and Maija Nissinen|2013|Cryst.Growth Des.|13|3603|doi:10.1021/cg4005714

CCDC 1839942: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Juanzhu Yan, Sami Malola, Chengyi Hu, Jian Peng, Birger Dittrich, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen, Lansun Zheng, Nanfeng Zheng|2018|Nat.Commun.|9|3357|doi:10.1038/s41467-018-05584-9

CCDC 1020497: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Huayan Yang , Yu Wang , Juanzhu Yan , Xi Chen , Xin Zhang , Hannu Häkkinen , and Nanfeng Zheng|2014|J.Am.Chem.Soc.|136|7197|doi:10.1021/ja501811j

CCDC 1962411: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Peng Yuan, Ruihua Zhang, Elli Selenius, Pengpeng Ruan, Yangrong Yao, Yang Zhou, Sami Malola, Hannu Häkkinen, Boon K. Teo, Yang Cao, Nanfeng Zheng|2020|Nat.Commun.|11|2229|doi:10.1038/s41467-020-16062-6

CCDC 1918141: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Megalamane S. Bootharaju, Hogeun Chang, Guocheng Deng, Sami Malola, Woonhyuk Baek, Hannu Häkkinen, Nanfeng Zheng, Taeghwan Hyeon|2019|J.Am.Chem.Soc.|141|8422|doi:10.1021/jacs.9b03257

CCDC 954905: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Huayan Yang , Yu Wang , Jing Lei , Lei Shi , Xiaohu Wu , Ville Mäkinen , Shuichao Lin , Zichao Tang , Jian He , Hannu Häkkinen , Lansun Zheng , and Nanfeng Zheng|2013|J.Am.Chem.Soc.|135|9568|doi:10.1021/ja402249s

CCDC 1962412: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Peng Yuan, Ruihua Zhang, Elli Selenius, Pengpeng Ruan, Yangrong Yao, Yang Zhou, Sami Malola, Hannu Häkkinen, Boon K. Teo, Yang Cao, Nanfeng Zheng|2020|Nat.Commun.|11|2229|doi:10.1038/s41467-020-16062-6

CCDC 930282: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Kaisa Helttunen, Lauri Lehtovaara, Hannu Häkkinen, and Maija Nissinen|2013|Cryst.Growth Des.|13|3603|doi:10.1021/cg4005714

CCDC 1814033: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Guocheng Deng, Sami Malola, Juanzhu Yan, Yingzi Han, Peng Yuan, Chaowei Zhao, Xiting Yuan, Shuichao Lin, Zichao Tang, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen, Nanfeng Zheng|2018|Angew.Chem.,Int.Ed.|57|3421|doi:10.1002/anie.201800327

CCDC 1508753: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Juanzhu Yan, Haifeng Su, Huayan Yang, Chengyi Hu, Sami Malola, Shuichao Lin, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen, and Nanfeng Zheng|2016|J.Am.Chem.Soc.|138|12751|doi:10.1021/jacs.6b08100

CCDC 2054074: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Guocheng Deng, Sami Malola, Peng Yuan, Xianhu Liu, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen, Nanfeng Zheng|2021|Angew.Chem.,Int.Ed.|60|12897|doi:10.1002/anie.202101141

CCDC 2054073: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Guocheng Deng, Sami Malola, Peng Yuan, Xianhu Liu, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen, Nanfeng Zheng|2021|Angew.Chem.,Int.Ed.|60|12897|doi:10.1002/anie.202101141

CCDC 1942682: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Xiting Yuan, Cunfa Sun, Xihua Li, Sami Malola, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen, Lan-Sun Zheng, Nanfeng Zheng|2019|J.Am.Chem.Soc.|141|11905|doi:10.1021/jacs.9b03009

CCDC 954903: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Huayan Yang , Yu Wang , Jing Lei , Lei Shi , Xiaohu Wu , Ville Mäkinen , Shuichao Lin , Zichao Tang , Jian He , Hannu Häkkinen , Lansun Zheng , and Nanfeng Zheng|2013|J.Am.Chem.Soc.|135|9568|doi:10.1021/ja402249s

CCDC 2022415: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Yu Wang, Haifeng Su, Liting Ren, Sami Malola, Shuichao Lin, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen, Nanfeng Zheng|2016|Angew.Chem.,Int.Ed.|55|15152|doi:10.1002/anie.201609144

CCDC 1427733: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Yu Wang, Haifeng Su, Chaofa Xu, Gang Li, Lars Gell, Shuichao Lin, Zichao Tang, Hannu Häkkinen, and Nanfeng Zheng|2015|J.Am.Chem.Soc.|137|4324|doi:10.1021/jacs.5b01232

CCDC 2054075: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Guocheng Deng, Sami Malola, Peng Yuan, Xianhu Liu, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen, Nanfeng Zheng|2021|Angew.Chem.,Int.Ed.|60|12897|doi:10.1002/anie.202101141

CCDC 954904: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Huayan Yang , Yu Wang , Jing Lei , Lei Shi , Xiaohu Wu , Ville Mäkinen , Shuichao Lin , Zichao Tang , Jian He , Hannu Häkkinen , Lansun Zheng , and Nanfeng Zheng|2013|J.Am.Chem.Soc.|135|9568|doi:10.1021/ja402249s

CCDC 2021376: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Sanghwa Lee, Megalamane S. Bootharaju, Guocheng Deng, Sami Malola, Woonhyuk Baek, Hannu Häkkinen, Nanfeng Zheng, Taeghwan Hyeon|2020|J.Am.Chem.Soc.|142|13974|doi:10.1021/jacs.0c06577

Topology and structure of Au144(SRNH3+)60 from "Atomistic Simulations of Functional Au144(SR)60 Gold Nanoparticles in Aqueous Environment"

Positively charged monolayer-protected gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) structure and topology files for GROMACS used in DOI: 10.1021/jp301094m. The final structure of the simulation reported in DOI: 10.1021/jp301094m for the neutral case is provided. The gold nanoparticle contain a core of 144 Au atoms and 60 functionalized alkanethiol side groups (undecanyl chain, R = C11H22), each possessing a positively charged amonium terminal group. When using this structure do not forget to cite DOI: 10.1021/jp301094m. NOTE1: Different versions for the topology files are provided of both AuNPs. All versions were used for the publication. The changes only affect the core surface and therefore had no influ…

CCDC 1811378: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Juanzhu Yan, Jun Zhang, Xumao Chen, Sami Malola, Bo Zhou, Elli Selenius, Xiaomin Zhang, Peng Yuan, Guocheng Deng, Kunlong Liu, Haifeng Su, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen, Lansun Zheng, Nanfeng Zheng|2018|National Science Review|5|694|doi:10.1093/nsr/nwy034

CCDC 1044957: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Tiia-Riikka Tero, Kirsi Salorinne, Sami Malola, Hannu Häkkinen, Maija Nissinen|2015|CrystEngComm|17|8231|doi:10.1039/C5CE01144B

CCDC 1055144: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Marcus A. Tofanelli, Kirsi Salorinne, Thomas W. Ni, Sami Malola, Brian Newell, Billy Phillips, Hannu Häkkinen, Christopher J. Ackerson|2016|Chemical Science|7|1882|doi:10.1039/C5SC02134K

CCDC 1985364: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Kirsi Salorinne, Renee W. Y. Man, Paul A. Lummis, Maryam Sabooni Asre Hazer, Sami Malola, Jacky C.-H. Yim, Alex J. Veinot, Wenxia Zhou, Hannu Häkkinen, Masakazu Nambo, Cathleen M. Crudden|2020|Chem.Commun.|56|6102|doi:10.1039/D0CC01482F

CCDC 2054078: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Guocheng Deng, Sami Malola, Peng Yuan, Xianhu Liu, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen, Nanfeng Zheng|2021|Angew.Chem.,Int.Ed.|60|12897|doi:10.1002/anie.202101141

CCDC 1044956: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Tiia-Riikka Tero, Kirsi Salorinne, Sami Malola, Hannu Häkkinen, Maija Nissinen|2015|CrystEngComm|17|8231|doi:10.1039/C5CE01144B

CCDC 1044959: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Tiia-Riikka Tero, Kirsi Salorinne, Sami Malola, Hannu Häkkinen, Maija Nissinen|2015|CrystEngComm|17|8231|doi:10.1039/C5CE01144B

CCDC 1496142: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Huayan Yang, Yu Wang, Xi Chen, Xiaojing Zhao, Lin Gu, Huaqi Huang, Juanzhu Yan, Chaofa Xu, Gang Li, Junchao Wu, Alison J. Edwards, Birger Dittrich, Zichao Tang, Dongdong Wang, Lauri Lehtovaara, Hannu Häkkinen, Nanfeng Zheng|2016|Nat.Commun.|7|12809|doi:10.1038/ncomms12809

CCDC 1967410: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Hui Shen, Elli Selenius, Pengpeng Ruan, Xihua Li, Peng Yuan, Omar Lopez-Estrada, Sami Malola, Shuichao Lin, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen, Nanfeng Zheng|2020|Chem.-Eur.J.|26|8465|doi:10.1002/chem.202001753

Topology and structure of Au144(SRCOO-)60 from "Atomistic Simulations of Functional Au144(SR)60 Gold Nanoparticles in Aqueous Environment"

Negatively charged monolayer-protected gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) structure and topology files for GROMACS used in DOI: 10.1021/jp301094m. The final structure of the simulation reported in DOI: 10.1021/jp301094m for the neutral case is provided. The gold nanoparticle contain a core of 144 Au atoms and 60 functionalized alkanethiol side groups (undecanyl chain, R = C11H22), each possessing a negatively charged carboxylic terminal group. When using this structure do not forget to cite DOI: 10.1021/jp301094m. NOTE1: Different versions for the topology files are provided of both AuNPs. All versions were used for the publication. The changes only affect the core surface and therefore had no in…

CCDC 1044954: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Tiia-Riikka Tero, Kirsi Salorinne, Sami Malola, Hannu Häkkinen, Maija Nissinen|2015|CrystEngComm|17|8231|doi:10.1039/C5CE01144B

CCDC 999255: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Kirsi Salorinne, Tanja Lahtinen, Varpu Marjomäki, Hannu Häkkinen|2014|CrystEngComm|16|9001|doi:10.1039/C4CE01152J

CCDC 930280: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Kaisa Helttunen, Lauri Lehtovaara, Hannu Häkkinen, and Maija Nissinen|2013|Cryst.Growth Des.|13|3603|doi:10.1021/cg4005714

CCDC 1575582: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Sebastian Kenzler, Claudio Schrenk, Andrew R. Frojd, Hannu Häkkinen, Andre Z. Clayborne, Andreas Schnepf|2018|Chem.Commun.|54|248|doi:10.1039/C7CC08014J

CCDC 1428883: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Juanzhu Yan, Haifeng Su, Huayan Yang, Sami Malola, Shuichao Lin, Hannu Häkkinen, and Nanfeng Zheng|2015|J.Am.Chem.Soc.|137|11880|doi:10.1021/jacs.5b07186

CCDC 999256: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Kirsi Salorinne, Tanja Lahtinen, Varpu Marjomäki, Hannu Häkkinen|2014|CrystEngComm|16|9001|doi:10.1039/C4CE01152J

CCDC 1020495: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Huayan Yang , Yu Wang , Juanzhu Yan , Xi Chen , Xin Zhang , Hannu Häkkinen , and Nanfeng Zheng|2014|J.Am.Chem.Soc.|136|7197|doi:10.1021/ja501811j

CCDC 1543485: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Liting Ren, Peng Yuan, Haifeng Su, Sami Malola, Shuichao Lin, Zichao Tang, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen , Lansun Zheng, and Nanfeng Zheng|2017|J.Am.Chem.Soc.|139|13288|doi:10.1021/jacs.7b07926

CCDC 1814031: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Guocheng Deng, Sami Malola, Juanzhu Yan, Yingzi Han, Peng Yuan, Chaowei Zhao, Xiting Yuan, Shuichao Lin, Zichao Tang, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen, Nanfeng Zheng|2018|Angew.Chem.,Int.Ed.|57|3421|doi:10.1002/anie.201800327

CCDC 1916156: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Hui Shen, Guocheng Deng, Sami Kaappa, Tongde Tan, Ying-Zi Han, Sami Malola, Shui-Chao Lin, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen, Nanfeng Zheng|2019|Angew.Chem.,Int.Ed.|58|17731|doi:10.1002/anie.201908983

CCDC 1839941: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Juanzhu Yan, Sami Malola, Chengyi Hu, Jian Peng, Birger Dittrich, Boon K. Teo, Hannu Häkkinen, Lansun Zheng, Nanfeng Zheng|2018|Nat.Commun.|9|3357|doi:10.1038/s41467-018-05584-9

CCDC 930283: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Kaisa Helttunen, Lauri Lehtovaara, Hannu Häkkinen, and Maija Nissinen|2013|Cryst.Growth Des.|13|3603|doi:10.1021/cg4005714

CCDC 930277: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Kaisa Helttunen, Lauri Lehtovaara, Hannu Häkkinen, and Maija Nissinen|2013|Cryst.Growth Des.|13|3603|doi:10.1021/cg4005714

CCDC 2009603: Experimental Crystal Structure Determination

Related Article: Zhaoxian Qin, Sachil Sharma, Chong‐qing Wan, Sami Malola, Wen‐wu Xu, Hannu Häkkinen, Gao Li|2021|Angew.Chem.,Int.Ed.|60|970|doi:10.1002/anie.202011780

Kernels and Graphs on M25 + H (parent repository)

The repository contains codes related to article "Graphs and Kernelized Learning Applied to Interactions of Hydrogen with Doped Gold Nanoparticle Electrocatalysts". There are two main types of codes: codes to transform a catalytic system of protected gold nanoparticle and a single hydrogen atom into a graph-based representation, and codes to run kernel-based machine learning methods to predict interaction energies between the nanoparticle and the hydrogen atom. This is the metadata for the parent repository of the codes. Updates and possible corrections are documented in the GitLab project, where the material saved and shared. The GitLab project can be found and downloaded from the followin…