Search results for "Nanoclusters"

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

2019

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 …

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

2016

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…

Gold Nanoclusters: Atomically Precise Gold Nanoclusters: Towards an Optimal Biocompatible System from a Theoretical–Experimental Strategy (Small 27/2…

2021

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

2011

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…

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

2016

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…

FT-IR spectroscopy studies of the breast cancer cell composition changes induced by Au-BSA nanoclusters

2016

BacSr1−cTiO3 perovskite solid solutions: Thermodynamics from ab initio electronic structure calculations

2005

We suggest theoretical prediction for Ba"cSr"1"-"cTiO"3 perovskite solid solutions (BST) combining ab initio DFT/B3PW calculations and alloy thermodynamics. This approach is based on calculations of a series of ordered super-structures in Ba-Sr simple cubic sublattice immersed in the rest TiO"3 matrix. Although these structures are unstable with respect to the decomposition, the results of total energy calculations allow us to extract the necessary energy parameters and to calculate the phase diagram for the solid solutions (alloys). A novel approach applied to the BST system enables to predict that at T>400 K Ba and Sr atom distribution is random. But below this temperature at small c Ba a…

Atomic and electronic structure of both perfect and nanostructured Ni(111) surfaces: First-principles calculations

2011

article i nfo In this study, we perform first principles simulations on both atomically smooth and nanostructured Ni(111) slabs. The latter contains periodically distributed nickel nanoclusters atop a thin metal film gradually growing from adatoms and serving as a promising catalyst. Applying the generalized gradient approximation within the formalism of the density functional theory we compare the atomic and electronic structures of Ni bulk, as well as both perfect and nanostructured (111) surfaces obtained using two different ab initio approaches: (i) the linear combination of atomic orbitals and (ii) the projector augmented plane waves. The most essential inter-atomic forces between the …

Size Exclusion Chromatography for Semipreparative Scale Separation of Au 38 (SR) 24 and Au 40 (SR) 24 and Larger Clusters

2011

Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) on a semipreparative scale (10 mg and more) was used to size-select ultrasmall gold nanoclusters (2 nm) from polydisperse mixtures. In particular, the ubiquitous byproducts of the etching process toward Au(38)(SR)(24) (SR, thiolate) clusters were separated and gained in high monodispersity (based on mass spectrometry). The isolated fractions were characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy, MALDI mass spectrometry, HPLC, and electron microscopy. Most notably, the separation of Au(38)(SR)(24) and Au(40)(SR)(24) clusters is demonstrated.

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

2018

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…