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Updated: Jan 10, 2026

Assembly of Gold Nanorods into Chiral Plasmonic Metamolecules Using DNA Origami Templates
Published on: March 5, 2019
Solvent-mediated chirality inversion in orthogonal hierarchical assembly of achiral carbene-anchored gold cluster
Ying-Jie Liu1, Wen-Qiu Yu1, Yu Liu1
1Henan Key Laboratory of Crystalline Molecular Functional Materials, College of Chemistry, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450001, China.
Abstract:
Precisely constructing homochiral helical nanostructures from achiral molecules by non-covalent interactions remains challenging owing to the untraceable handedness control at different hierarchical levels. Here, we present an aurophilicity-assisted orthogonal assembly strategy, enabling not only the homochiral assembly of an achiral carbene-anchored trinuclear gold cluster with chiral amines but also the inversion of circularly polarized luminescence (CPL). This gold cluster could spontaneously form random right- or left-handed helices, while introduction of chiral amines effectively drives the formation of hierarchically homochiral twists with |glum| of 10-2, directed by inherent aurophilicity of gold cluster and orthogonal intermolecular C-H⋅⋅⋅O/N interactions. Furthermore, by fine-tuning the assembly conditions from DMF to DMF/H2O solvent, the morphology of assemblies can be specifically controlled, resulting in inversion of CPL signals. This study highlights the potential of aurophilicity-driven orthogonal assembly strategy in effectively controlling hierarchical chirality and paves the way for advancing chiral metallo-superstructures.
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