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Au147(SPh)30(PPh3)12: A Geometrically Closed, but Electronically Open Triple-Shell Icosahedral Gold Cluster and its
Markus Strienz1, Andrei Poddelskii1, Bridget K Moll2
1Institut für Anorganische Chemie, Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 18, 72076, Tübingen, Germany.
Abstract:
The aesthetic platonic solids have been known since ancient times, and the structure of all five platonic solids is also found in chemical compounds. While gold sub-nanometer clusters and gold nanoparticles with an icosahedral structure have been known for a long time to exist, a multi-shell icosahedral gold cluster at the intermediate size between 13 and thousands of atoms has been elusive. Here we present the synthesis and crystallographic characterization of the first triple-shell icosahedral metal cluster, Au147(SPh)30(PPh3)12 1. The gold core in 1 is stabilized by phosphines and thiolates, but surprisingly no staple motifs are formed. A second cluster, Au146(SPh)30(PPh3)12 2, cocrystallizes and is identified as having a closed electronic shell but can be considered as a geometrically open pendant of 1. The unique clusters are characterized experimentally by EDX, UV/vis, DLS, and EPR and theoretically by quantum chemical calculations.
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