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Chirality in thiolate-protected gold clusters.

Stefan Knoppe1, Thomas Bürgi

  • 1Département de Chimie Physique, Université de Genève , 30 Quai Ernest-Ansermet, 1211 Genève 4, Switzerland.

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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Chiral gold clusters exhibit intrinsic chirality due to ligand arrangement, enabling enantiomer separation and flexible interface studies. Selective ligand exchange offers tailored properties for future applications.

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Area of Science:

  • Nanotechnology
  • Materials Science
  • Supramolecular Chemistry

Background:

  • Thiolate-protected gold clusters (Au(m)(SR)n) have garnered significant research interest.
  • Crystal structures of several gold clusters (e.g., Au102(SR)44, Au38(SR)24) reveal intrinsic chirality.
  • Chiral ligands can transfer chiral information to gold cluster cores, influencing optical activity.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the intrinsic chirality of thiolate-protected gold clusters.
  • To explore the transfer of chirality from ligands to cluster cores.
  • To develop methods for selective ligand exchange and tailor cluster properties.

Main Methods:

  • X-ray crystallography for structure determination.
  • High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for enantiomer separation.
  • Circular dichroism (CD) and vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) spectroscopy for optical activity and conformation analysis.
  • Ligand exchange reactions for modifying cluster surfaces.

Main Results:

  • Intrinsic chirality was identified in gold clusters like Au102(SR)44 and Au38(SR)24, arising from ligand arrangement.
  • Enantiomers of these clusters can be separated using HPLC, allowing CD spectral measurements.
  • Thermally induced inversion studies revealed flexibility at the gold-thiolate interface.
  • Selective diastereoselective ligand exchange with bidentate chiral ligands was achieved, stabilizing clusters and allowing property tuning.

Conclusions:

  • Thiolate-protected gold clusters can possess intrinsic chirality, influenced by ligand arrangement.
  • The gold-thiolate interface is dynamic, with implications for cluster stability and applications.
  • Controlled ligand exchange offers a pathway to engineer chiral gold clusters with tailored optical and electronic properties.