Conspectus There exists a special kind of perfectionin symmetry, simplicity, and stabilityattainable for structures generated from precisely 60 ligands (all of a single type) that protect 145 ...metal-atom sites. The symmetry in question is icosahedral (Ih ), generally, and chiral icosahedral (I) in particular. A 60-fold equivalence of the ligands is the smallest number to allow this kind of perfection. Known cluster compounds that approximate this structural ideal include palladium-carbonyls, Ih -Pd145(CO)60; gold-thiolates, I-Au144(SR)60; and gold-alkynyls, I-Au144(C2R)60. Many other variants are suspected. The Pd145 compound established the basic achiral structure-type. However, the Au144-thiolate archetype is prominent, historically in its abundance and ease of preparation and handling, in its proliferation in many laboratories and application areas, and ultimately in the intrinsic chirality of its geometrical structure and organization of its bonding network or connectivity. As discovered by mass spectrometry (the “30-k anomaly”) in 1995, it appeared as a broad single peak, as solitary and symmetrical as Mount Fuji, centered near 30 kDa (∼150 Au atoms), provoking these thoughts: Surely this phenomenon requires a unique explanation. It appears to be the Buckminsterfullerene (carbon-60) of gold-cluster chemistry. Herein we provide an elementary account of the unexpected discovery, in which the Pd145-structure played a critical role, that led to the identification and prediction, in 2008, of a fascinating new molecular structure-type, evidently the first one of chiral icosahedral symmetry. Rigorous confirmation of this prediction occurred in early spring 2018, when two single-crystal X-ray crystallography reports were submitted, each one distinguishing both enantiomeric structures and noting profound chirality for the surface (ligand) layer. The emphasis here is on the structure and bonding principles and how these have been elucidated. Our aim has been to present this story in simplest terms, consistent with the radical simplicity of the structure itself. Because it combines intrinsic profound chirality, at several levels, with the highest possible symmetry-type (icosahedral), the structure may attract broader interest also from educators, especially if studied in tandem with the analysis of hollow (shell) metallic systems that exhibit the same chirality and symmetry. Because the shortest (stiffest) bonds follow the chiral 3-way weave pattern of the traditional South-Asian reed football, this cultural artifact may be used to introduce chiral-icosahedral symmetry in a pleasant and memorable way. One may also appreciate easily the bonding and excitations in I-symmetry metallic nanostructures via the golden fullerenes, that is, the proposed hollow Au60,72 spheres. Beyond any aesthetic or pedagogical value, we aim that our Account may provide a firm foundation upon which others may address open questions and the opportunities they present. This Account can scarcely hint at the prospects for further fundamental understanding of these compounds, as well as a widening sphere of applications (chemical, electronic, imaging). The compounds remain crucial to a wider field presently under intense development.
Solving the atomic structure of metallic clusters is fundamental to understanding their optical, electronic, and chemical properties. Herein we present the structure of the largest aqueous gold ...cluster, Au146(p-MBA)57 (p-MBA: para-mercaptobenzoic acid), solved by electron micro-diffraction (MicroED) to subatomic resolution (0.85 Å) and by X-ray diffraction at atomic resolution (1.3 Å). The 146 gold atoms may be decomposed into two constituent sets consisting of 119 core and 27 peripheral atoms. The core atoms are organized in a twinned FCC structure, whereas the surface gold atoms follow a C2 rotational symmetry about an axis bisecting the twinning plane. The protective layer of 57 p-MBAs fully encloses the cluster and comprises bridging, monomeric, and dimeric staple motifs. Au146(p-MBA)57 is the largest cluster observed exhibiting a bulk-like FCC structure as well as the smallest gold particle exhibiting a stacking fault.
Ligand-protected metal clusters are employed in a great many applications that include notably energy conversion and biomedical uses. The interaction between the ligands and the metallic cores, ...mediated by an often complex interface, profoundly influences the properties of small clusters, in particular. Nonetheless, the mechanisms of interaction remain far from fully understood. The Au144L60 class of cluster compounds has long played a central role in the study of monolayer-protected clusters, but total structure determination has been achieved only recently for a thiolated and an all-alkynyl cluster. Both ligands contain aromatic rings but differ in their ligation to the metal core: conjugation along a triple bond in the latter, saturation in the former. We demonstrate the paramount importance of the conjugation in the connection between aromatic ligand rings and metal cores for the electronic and optical properties and, by extension, the critical transport properties, providing a crucial element for the development of design-principle-based synthesis.
The optical response of Au–Ag bimetallic nanoalloys has been studied using pseudopotential time-dependent density-functional theory calculations. The structures included the magic-number icosahedral ...nanoparticles of 55 and 147 atoms, 37-atom pentagonal rods, and 20-atom tetrahedra. Our results show strong resonances for the pure Ag nanoparticles and strongly broadened spectra with many transitions for the pure gold structures, in qualitative agreement with available experiment and previous calculations. For bimetallic core–shell particles, the outer shell determines the overall character of the optical response; a single outer layer of Ag can produce an Ag-like resonance even in a gold-rich structure. The inclusion of a gold core within a silver shell leads to a distinct red-shift of the silver-like resonances as well as to some damping. The bimetallic nanoparticles are found to be very sensitive to the chemical configuration, the position of the atomic species in some cases outweighing the effect of changing composition. For randomly alloyed configurations of 147-atom nanoparticles, the spectra show a smooth transition between pure Ag and Au and are in good qualitative agreement with available experiment.
Time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT) is widely used for calculating electron excitations in clusters and large molecules. For optical excitations, TDDFT is customarily applied in two ...distinct approaches: transition-based linear-response TDDFT (LR-TDDFT) and the real-time formalism (RT-TDDFT). The former directly provides the energies and transition densities of the excitations, but it requires the calculation of a large number of empty electron states, which makes it cumbersome for large systems. By contrast, RT-TDDFT circumvents the evaluation of empty orbitals, which is especially advantageous when dealing with large systems. A drawback of the procedure is that information about the nature of individual spectral features is not automatically obtained, although it is of course contained in the time-dependent induced density. Fourier transform of the induced density has been used in some simple cases, but the method is, surprisingly, not widely used to complement the RT-TDDFT calculations; although the reliability of RT-TDDFT spectra is now widely accepted, a critical assessment for the corresponding transition densities and a demonstration of the technical feasibility of the Fourier-transform evaluation for general cases is still lacking. In the present work, we show that the transition densities of the optically allowed excitations can be efficiently extracted from a single δ-kick time-evolution calculation even in complex systems like noble metals. We assess the results by comparison with the corresponding LR-TDDFT ones and also with the induced densities arising from RT-TDDFT simulations of the excitation process.
Aberration corrected (C
s
) scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) has been used for the first time to characterize MoS
2
catalysts (supported on Al
2
O
3
substrates) to provide detailed ...information of its shape and structure. The high-resolution imaging reveals unprecedented morphologies present in the MoS
2
catalyst that have never been observed before with other experimental techniques because of the insufficient image contrast and/or resolution. High angle annular dark field (HAADF)-STEM images shows very clearly that the catalyst is formed by elongated chains with a twisted and helical structure. Based on the HAADF-STEM images, we built three atomic models to illustrate the different morphologies found in the MoS
2
catalyst. The existence of these nanostructures opens the posibility for novel catalyticaly active edge morphologies in MoS
2
-based nanocatalysts.
Graphical Abstract
Enantioselectivity in gold clusters is investigated by studying the adsorption of a chiral amino acid (cysteine) on a chiral Au55 cluster using density functional calculations. The highest adsorption ...energies were found when the amino and thiolate functional groups of cysteine are bonded to the lowest coordinated edges of the chiral cluster. Enantiospecific adsorption is primarily obtained from the different bond location and strength, at the cluster edge, of the carboxyl groups forming the left- and right-handed enantiomers. These results provide theoretical support to convey enantioselectivity in asymmetric nanocatalysts using chiral gold clusters.
The localized surface-plasmon resonance of metal nanoparticles corresponds to a classical charge oscillation of the quasi-free conduction electrons. In the case of noble-metal nanoparticles, ...interband transitions from the d electrons influence the spectra strongly. In addition, the inhomogeneity of the nanoparticles at the atomistic level becomes important for small sizes. Using the time-evolution formulation of time-dependent density-functional theory, we show that in spherical 147-atom silver clusters, the localized surface-plasmon resonance corresponds indeed to a collective charge oscillation resembling the schematic picture, while the dynamics in a comparable gold cluster shows multiple modes which correspond to the spectra without strong resonance. Short nanorods show the same difference between Au and Ag. However, nanorods of high aspect ratio develop a silver-like charge oscillation. Monatomic silver chains behave similarly to the nanorods and show a clear transverse charge oscillation mode. The role of the d electrons in the screening of the localized surface-plasmon resonance is demonstrated.
PDF
