Atom-Precise Chiral Lanthanide-Silver(I) Heterometallic Clusters Ln₃Ag₅

Area of Science:

• Coordination Chemistry
• Materials Science
• Photophysics

Background:

• Chiral metal clusters are of interest for their unique structural and optical properties.
• Lanthanide (Ln) and silver (Ag) ions are key components in developing novel functional materials.
• Chiral ligands play a crucial role in inducing chirality in metal complexes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To synthesize novel chiral lanthanide-silver(I) clusters.
• To investigate the influence of chiral ligands on the cluster's structure and optical properties.
• To explore tunable photoluminescence in these chiral clusters.

Main Methods:

• Synthesis of chiral Ln-Ag(I) clusters using d/l-penicillamine as a multidentate ligand.
• Characterization of cluster structure and symmetry (C3).
• Analysis of optical properties, including circular dichroism (CD) spectra and photoluminescence.

Main Results:

• Successfully prepared three pairs of chiral d/l-Ln-Ag(I) clusters with C3 symmetry.
• Chiral ligand induced chirality in the molecular clusters.
• CD spectra showed a slight blue shift attributed to lanthanide contraction.
• Tunable photoluminescence was achieved by varying Ln3+ ions or excitation light, demonstrating {AgS}-to-Ln3+ emission.

Conclusions:

• Chiral d/l-penicillamine effectively mediates the formation of chiral Ln-Ag(I) clusters.
• Lanthanide contraction influences the CD spectra of these chiral compounds.
• The synthesized clusters exhibit tunable photoluminescence, making them promising for optical applications.