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Updated: Feb 20, 2026

Reverse Microemulsion-mediated Synthesis of Monometallic and Bimetallic Early Transition Metal Carbide and Nitride Nanoparticles
Published on: November 27, 2015
From Racemic Metal Nanoparticles to Optically Pure Enantiomers in One Pot
Huayan Yang1, Juanzhu Yan1, Yu Wang1
1State Key Laboratory for Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, and National Engineering Laboratory for Green Chemical Productions of Alcohols-Ethers-Esters, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University , Xiamen 361005, China.
Abstract:
A general strategy, using mixed ligands, is utilized to synthesize atomically precise, intrinsically chiral nanocluster [Ag78(DPPP)6(SR)42] (Ag78) where DPPP is the achiral 1,3-bis(diphenyphosphino)propane and SR = SPhCF3. Ag78 crystallizes as racemates in a centric space group. Using chiral diphosphines BDPP = 2,4-bis(diphenylphosphino)pentane, the enantiomeric pair [Ag78(R/S-BDPP)6(SR)42] can be prepared with 100% optical purity. The chiral diphosphines gives rise to, separately, two asymmetric surface coordination motifs composed of tetrahedral R3PAg(SR)3 moieties. The flexible nature of C-C-C angles between the two phosphorus atoms restricts the relative orientation of the tetrahedral R3PAg(SR)3 moieties, thereby resulting in the enantiomeric selection of the intrinsic chiral metal core. This proof-of-concept strategy raises the prospect of enantioselectively synthesizing optically pure, atomically precise chiral noble metal nanoclusters for specific applications.
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