Central Gold Atom Research Articles

Tri(N-carbazolyl)phosphine Gold(I) Complexes: Structural and Catalytic Activity Studies.

Twelve tri(N-carbazolyl)phosphine gold(I) complexes, bearing both protonated and deuterated aryl phosphorous triamide-type ligands, have been synthesized and characterized. An elusive Au-H(D) interaction between the H(D) atoms of the tri(N-carbazolyl)phosphine ligand at the H-1(D-1) position of the carbazolyl ring and the central gold atom was observed. Complexes 5(H)/5(D) bearing the dibrominated tri(N-carbazolyl)phosphine ligand exhibit isotopic polymorphism, in which two dramatically different crystal-packing modes between the protonated and deuterated forms occur. The catalytic potential of these complexes has been showcased in the gold(I)-catalyzed glycosylation with glycosyl o-alkynylbenzoates as donors, with TON being up to 27 000.

Quantum chemical studies of the electronic structures of anti-tumor agents: AuIIIL+ (L = porphine, tetraphenylporphyrin)

GoldIIImeso-tetraphenylporphyrin complexes are reported as one of potential anti-tumor drugs. Elucidation of the molecular properties and intermolecular interaction with amino acids are crucial in understanding their structure-function relationship and anti-tumor mechanism. In this study, we report quantum-chemical studies on the geometries, electronic structures, chemical bonding, and substituent effect of goldIII porphine cation and GoldIIImeso-tetraphenylporphyrin cation (AuTPP+). The stability of square planar D4h goldIII porphine cation primarily originates from the overlap between Au 5dx2-y2 and the ligand group orbitals of the nitrogen atoms of porphine. The electronic effect and the peripheral steric hindrance of the substituents present a combined influence on the geometry of the porphyrin core. Strong electron-donating group would prefer saddling distortion, while sterically hindered groups tend to cause ruffling distortion. The molecular-orbital (MO) energies of meso-substituted goldIII porphine generally increase from electron-withdrawing to electron-donating substituents, providing opportunity to tune the electronic properties of this kind of promising drugs. Through comprehensive screening of the interaction between AuTPP+ and various amino acids, we find dative interaction as well as potential π-π stacking dominant for AuTPP+ binding with amino acids. In particular, nitrogen atom of unprotonated histidine has been found to have a non-negligible dative bonding interaction with the central gold atom, which might be relevant to the anti-tumor functionality of AuTPP+.

Raman Spectroscopic Fingerprints of Atomically Precise Ligand Protected Noble Metal Clusters: Au38 (PET)24 and Au38-x Agx (PET)24.

Distinct Raman spectroscopic signatures of the metal core of atomically precise, ligand-protected noble metal nanoclusters are reported using Au38 (PET)24 and Au38-x Agx (PET)24 (PET = 2-phenylethanethiolate, -SC2 H4 C6 H5 ) as model systems. The fingerprint Raman features (occurring <200 cm-1 ) of these clusters arise due to the vibrations involving metal atoms of their Au23 or Au23-x Agx cores. A distinct core breathing vibrational mode of the Au23 core has been observed at 90 cm-1 . Whereas the breathing mode shifts to higher frequencies with increasing Ag content of the cluster, the vibrational signatures due to the outer metal-ligand staple motifs (between 200 and 500 cm-1 ) do not shift significantly. DFT calculations furthermore reveal weak Raman bands at higher frequencies compared to the breathing mode, which are associated mostly with the rattling of two central gold atoms of the bi-icosahedral Au23 core. These vibrations are also observed in the experimental spectrum. The study indicates that low-frequency Raman spectra are a characteristic fingerprint of atomically precise clusters, just as electronic absorption spectroscopy, in contrast to the spectrum associated with the ligand shell, which is observed at higher frequencies.

On Heteronuclear Isoelectronic Alternatives to [Au13(dppe)5Cl2]3+: Electronic and Optical Properties of the 18-Electron Os@[Au12(dppe)5Cl2] Cluster from Relativistic Density Functional Theory Computations.

The development of well-defined atomically precise heteronuclear nanoclusters passivated by protecting ligands is presently a booming area, owing to the fact that doping well-known homonuclear nanostructures allows fine-tuning of their properties. Here, we explore by means of density functional theory calculations the possibility of doping the central gold atom in the classical [Au13(dppe)5Cl2]3+cluster (1) by Os. Although both [Au13(dppe)5Cl2]3+ and [Os@Au12(dppe)5Cl2] have the same total number of electrons, we show that they are not isoelectronic within the formalism of the superatom model, being respectively an 8- and an 18-electron species. It results that they exhibit similar structures but present significantly different optical behaviors (ultraviolet/visible and circular dichroism). Similar results are obtained for the Ru and Fe relatives. Emission properties indicate some redshift of the T1→S1 decay with respect to [Au13(dppe)5Cl2]3+, involving an equatorial distortion of the Au12Cl2 core in the T1 state, rather than the axial distortion afforded by 1. The sizable highest occupied molecular orbital-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital gaps found for the three doped species suggest that further experimental exploration of different stable doped species derived from the ligand-protected Au12Cl2 core should be encouraged.

ESI-MS Identification of the Cationic Phosphine-Ligated Gold Clusters Au1-22: Insight into the Gold-Ligand Ratio and Abundance of Larger Clusters.

Triphenylphosphine (PPh3)-ligated gold nanoclusters are valuable for a number of potential applications due to their relative ease of synthesis and usefulness in forming advanced cluster architectures. While previous studies have reported cationic PPh3-ligated gold clusters with core sizes of Au1-4, Au6-11, and Au13-14, there has not been definitive identification by mass spectrometry of many larger clusters in the Au12-25 range. Herein, we survey a polydisperse solution of cationic PPh3-ligated gold clusters using high-mass-resolution (M/ΔM = 60,000) electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). To improve the sensitivity and mass resolution of larger clusters for unambiguous identification, we increased the number of scan averages and reduced the range of mass collection windows to 200 m/z, thereby mitigating potential mass and ion abundance bias resulting from smaller "building block" gold clusters that are present in much higher abundance in solution. In addition to the previously reported clusters, we identify several new species including Au5(PPh3)5+, Au12(PPh3)9HCl2+, Au15(PPh3)9Cl2+, Au16(PPh3)10Cl22+, Au17(PPh3)113+, Au18(PPh3)102+, Au19(PPh3)10Cl2+, Au20(PPh3)12H33+, Au21(PPh3)10Cl2+, and Au22(PPh3)10Cl22+, indicating that a full range of clusters between Au1-22 may be observed in a single polydisperse solution. Considering all of the clusters observed, our findings provide evidence that the Au12-14 size range is a critical transition point in cluster nucleation. While smaller clusters exhibit a 1:1 gold-to-ligand ratio, larger clusters (beginning Au12-14) feature additional gold atoms without an equal number of accompanying ligands. Our results support previous evidence in the literature indicating that the "magic number" icosahedral Au13 geometry is the smallest cluster size where a ligand-less central gold atom is coordinated by a complete shell of 12 surrounding ligated gold atoms, thereby creating a stable "one-shell" cluster. Furthermore, our findings reinforce growing evidence that ligands may be used to actively direct gold cluster size and abundance during synthesis. While for PPh3-ligated systems the most abundant species are Au6-9 clusters, we find that for related methyldiphenylphosphine (PPh2Me) and dimethylphenylphosphine (PPhMe2)-ligated systems the most abundant cluster sizes are Au10-11 and Au12-14, respectively. Together, we demonstrate that reducing the range of m/z collection windows and increasing the number of scan averages dramatically improves instrument sensitivity for cationic gold clusters, enabling thorough characterization of polydisperse solutions that is not possible using conventional techniques.

N-heterocyclic carbene-functionalized magic-number gold nanoclusters.

Magic-number gold nanoclusters are atomically precise nanomaterials that have enabled unprecedented insight into structure-property relationships in nanoscience. Thiolates are the most common ligand, binding to the cluster via a staple motif in which only central gold atoms are in the metallic state. The lack of other strongly bound ligands for nanoclusters with different bonding modes has been a significant limitation in the field. Here, we report a previously unknown ligand for gold(0) nanoclusters-N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs)-which feature a robust metal-carbon single bond and impart high stability to the corresponding gold cluster. The addition of a single NHC to gold nanoclusters results in significantly improved stability and catalytic properties in the electrocatalytic reduction of CO2. By varying the conditions, nature and number of equivalents of the NHC, predominantly or exclusively monosubstituted NHC-functionalized clusters result. Clusters can also be obtained with up to five NHCs, as a mixture of species.

Evaluation of Electron Donation as a Mechanism for the Stabilisation of Chalcogenate‐Protected Gold Nanoclusters

Models based on Au(111) face have been extensively used to describe self-assembled monolayers, as well nanoparticles and nanoclusters. However, for very small clusters (<2 nm), the chemisorption of ligands leads to surface reconstruction, making necessary the use of a more reliable model that is able to simulate the main electronic and geometrical features of these small systems. In this work, a simple model to describe the geometries and the metal-ligand bonding in chalcogenate-protected gold nanoclusters is proposed. Three different models with Aun+ and [XCH3 ]- (n=10, 15, 19, 22 and X=S, Se, Te) are used in this work. The obtained structures are in close agreement not only with the available crystallographic data, but also with much more expensive computational procedures, confirming that the proposed models are robust enough to describe the metal-ligand bonding. The results reveal that the Au-X distances are dependent on both the nature of the chalcogen and the coordination mode. The shortest Au-X distances are observed in the face-centred cubic mode, indicating that the central gold atom seems to play a role in determining the adsorption strength. The proposed models show unambiguously chalcogen→cluster σ-donation, as supported by energy decomposition analysis coupled with the natural orbitals for chemical valence and natural bond orbital analyses. In all cases, the metal-ligand interactions are characterised as being more covalent than electrostatic.

Comparison of Hydrogen and Gold Bonding in [XHX](-) , [XAuX](-) , and Isoelectronic [NgHNg](+) , [NgAuNg](+) (X=Halogen, Ng=Noble Gas).

Quantum chemical calculations at the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ and CCSD(T)/aug-cc-pVTZ levels have been carried out for the title compounds. The electronic structures were analyzed with a variety of charge and energy partitioning methods. All molecules possess linear equilibrium structures with D∞h symmetry. The total bond dissociation energies (BDEs) of the strongly bonded halogen anions [XHX](-) and [XAuX](-) decrease from [FHF](-) to [IHI](-) and from [FAuF](-) to [IAuI](-) . The BDEs of the noble gas compounds [NgHNg](+) and [NgAuNg](+) become larger for the heavier atoms. The central hydrogen and gold atoms carry partial positive charges in the cations and even in the anions, except for [IAuI](-) , in which case the gold atom has a small negative charge of -0.03 e. The molecular electrostatic potentials reveal that the regions of the most positive or negative charges may not agree with the partial charges of the atoms, because the spatial distribution of the electronic charge needs to be considered. The bonding analysis with the QTAIM method suggests a significant covalent character for the hydrogen bonds to the noble gas atoms in [NgHNg](+) and to the halogen atoms in [XHX](-) . The covalent character of the bonding in the gold systems [NgAuNg](+) and [XAuX](-) is smaller than in the hydrogen compound. The energy decomposition analysis suggests that the lighter hydrogen systems possess dative bonds X(-) →H(+) ←X(-) or Ng→H(+) ←Ng while the heavier homologues exhibit electron sharing through two-electron, three-center bonds. Dative bonds X(-) →Au(+) ←X(-) and Ng→Au(+) ←Ng are also diagnosed for the lighter gold systems, but the heavier compounds possess electron-shared bonds.

Ultrafast Relaxation Dynamics of Luminescent Rod-Shaped, Silver-Doped AgxAu25–x Clusters

The luminescent ligand protected metal clusters have attracted considerable attentions while the origin of the emission still remains elusive. As recently reported in our previous work, the rod-shaped Au25 cluster possesses a low photoluminescence quantum yield (QY = 0.1%), whereas substituting silver atoms for central gold atom in the rod-shaped Au25 cluster can drastically enhance the photoluminescence with high quantum yield (QY = 40.1%). To explore the enhancement mechanism of fluorescence, femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy is performed to determine the electronic structure and ultrafast relaxation dynamics of the highly luminescent silver-doped AgxAu25–x cluster by comparing the excited state dynamics of doped and undoped Au25 rod cluster, it is found that the excited state relaxation in AgxAu25–x is proceeded with an ultrafast (∼0.58 ps) internal conversion and a subsequent nuclear relaxation (∼20.7 ps), followed by slow (7.4 μs) decay back to the ground state. Meanwhile, the observed nu...

Reactivity of liquid ammonia solutions of the Zintl phase K12Sn17 towards mesitylcopper(I) and phosphinegold(I) chloride.

To gain more insight into the reactivity of intermetalloid clusters, the reactivity of the Zintl phase K12 Sn17 , which contains [Sn4 ](4-) and [Sn9 ](4-) cluster anions, was investigated. The reaction of K12 Sn17 with gold(I) phosphine chloride yielded K7 [(η(2) -Sn4 )Au(η(2) -Sn4 )](NH3 )16 (1) and K17 [(η(2) -Sn4 )Au(η(2) -Sn4 )]2 (NH2 )3 (NH3 )52 (2), which both contain the anion [(Sn4 )Au(Sn4 )](7-) (1 a) that consists of two [Sn4 ](4-) tetrahedra linked through a central gold atom. Anion 1 a represents the first binary AuSn polyanion. From this reaction, the solvate structure [K([2.2.2]crypt)]3 K[Sn9 ](NH3 )18 (3; [2.2.2]crypt=4,7,13,16,21,24-hexaoxa-1,10-diazabicyclo[8.8.8]hexacosane) was also obtained. In the analogous reaction of mesitylcopper with K12 Sn17 in the presence of [18]crown-6 in liquid ammonia, crystals of the composition [K([18]crown-6)]2 [K([18]crown-6)(MesH)(NH3 )][Cu@Sn9 ](thf) (4) were isolated ([18]crown-6=1,4,7,10,13,16-hexaoxacyclooctadiene, MesH=mesitylene, thf=tetrahydrofuran) and featured a [Cu@Sn9 ](3-) cluster. A similar reaction with [2.2.2]crypt as a sequestering agent led to the formation of crystals of [K[2.2.2]crypt][MesCuMes] (5). The cocrystallization of mesitylene in 4 and the presence of [MesCuMes](-) (5 a) in 5 provides strong evidence that the migration of a bare Cu atom into an Sn9 anion takes place through the release of a Mes(-) anion from mesitylcopper, which either migrates to another mesitylcopper to form 5 a or is subsequently protonated to give MesH.

Diverse in vitro and in vivo anti-inflammatory effects of trichlorido-gold(III) complexes with N6-benzyladenine derivatives

A series of gold(III) complexes involving differently substituted derivatives of a plant hormone N6-benzyladenine (HL1–5) is reported. The complexes have the general formula [Au(HL1–5)Cl3]∙nH2O (n=0 for 1, 3–5; and n=1 for 2), where N6-(2-fluorobenzyl)adenine (HL1), N6-(2-chlorobenzyl)adenine (HL2), N6-(3-chlorobenzyl)adenine (HL3), N6-(4-chlorobenzyl)adenine (HL4) and N6-(4-methylbenzyl)adenine (HL5) represent the N9-coordinated ligands. The results of thorough characterization (elemental and thermal analyses, FT-IR, Raman and NMR spectroscopies, ESI+ mass spectrometry, conductivity measurements, DFT calculations) showed that the presented complexes 1–5 involve a central gold(III) atom coordinated in a square-planar geometry by the N9 atom of the purine moiety of HL1–5 and by three chlorido ligands. The complexes (1–5) were studied in vitro for cytotoxicity and anti-inflammatory activity on LPS-activated macrophages (THP-1 cell line), and in vivo for anti-inflammatory effects (1, 2, 5) using the carrageenan-induced hind paw oedema model on rats. Surprisingly, the results on the in vitro level revealed that the complexes show negligible cytotoxicity and anti-inflammatory activity, however, the activity on the in vivo level was found to be significant, fully comparable with the utilized drug Indomethacin, or even better as compared to a gold-containing metallodrug Auranofin.

Electron paramagnetic resonance in positively charged Au25 molecular nanoclusters

In this study, we investigated the unpaired electrons and singly occupied molecular orbitals (SOMO) of positively charged Au(25) molecular clusters using solid-state electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). The EPR powder spectra of the positively charged (Au(25) (+)) and neutral (Au(25) (0)) species of Au(25) are discussed and compared. Our study demonstrates that Au(25) (+) is paramagnetic with a SOMO that is mostly localized about the central gold atom in the core of the molecule and possesses a strong p-type atomic character. The unpaired electron spin is demonstrated to strongly interact with the nuclear spins from other (197)Au nuclei in the core of Au(25) (+) molecules and the hyperfine tensor describing such interaction was extracted from the comparison of the EPR spectra with quantum mechanical simulations assuming an anisotropic structure of the core. Our simulations suggest that the core of Au(25) (+) molecular clusters is more distorted than in the corresponding neutral counterpart. They also confirm previous hypotheses suggesting that the icosahedral core of Au(25) (+) experiences contraction with decreasing temperature.

The Unique bis-(Disulfato)-aurate Anion [Au(S2O7)2]−: Synthesis and Characterization of Li[Au(S2O7)2] and Na[Au(S2O7)2

The reaction of Au(OH)(3) and oleum (65% SO(3)) in the presence of M(2)SO(4) (M = Li, Na) afforded yellow single crystals of Li[Au(S(2)O(7))(2)] (triclinic, P ̅1, Z = 1, a = 532.20(3), b = 649.69(4), c = 836.72(5) pm, α = 107.982(2)°, β = 90.171(2)°, γ = 102.583(2)°, V = 267.80(3) Å(3)) and Na[Au(S(2)O(7))(2)] (monoclinic, P2(1)/n, Z = 2, a = 533.31(3), b = 1193.38(7), c = 907.67(5) pm, β = 98.548(3)°, V = 571.26(6) Å(3)). Both compounds exhibit the unprecedented [Au(S(2)O(7))(2)](-) anion in which a square planar coordination of the central gold atom is achieved by the chelating attachment of two disulfate groups. The disulfates were characterized by means of IR spectroscopy and DTA/TG measurements. For both compounds, the decomposition occurs via several steps and is finished at about 450 °C at the stage of elemental gold and the sulfates M(2)SO(4) (M = Li, Na), as revealed by X-ray powder diffraction of the residues.

Structural change from doping the gold cluster

Doping gold clusters with a transition metal (M@Au(n)) causes structural change. To determine the mechanism by which these changes occur, the central gold atom of Au(5) was doped with its same row transition metals Pt, Ir, Os, Re, and W. Based on theoretical calculations, a similar trend was found in other gold clusters.

Isolation, structure, and stability of a dodecanethiolate-protected Pd1Au24 cluster

A dodecanethiolate-protected Pd(1)Au(24)(SC(12)H(25))(18) cluster, which is a mono-Pd-doped cluster of the well understood magic gold cluster Au(25)(SR)(18), was isolated in high purity using solvent fractionation and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) after the preparation of dodecanethiolate-protected palladium-gold bimetal clusters. The cluster thus isolated was identified as the neutral [Pd(1)Au(24)(SC(12)H(25))(18)](0) from the retention time in reverse phase columns and by elemental analyses. The LDI mass spectrum of [Pd(1)Au(24)(SC(12)H(25))(18)](0) indicates that [Pd(1)Au(24)(SC(12)H(25))(18)](0) adopts a similar framework structure to Au(25)(SR)(18), in which an icosahedral Au(13) core is protected by six [-S-Au-S-Au-S-] oligomers. The optical absorption spectrum of [Pd(1)Au(24)(SC(12)H(25))(18)](0) exhibits peaks at approximately 690 and approximately 620 nm, which is consistent with calculated results on [Pd(1)@Au(24)(SC(1)H(3))(18)](0) in which the central gold atom of Au(25)(SC(1)H(3))(18) is replaced with Pd. These results strongly indicate that the isolated [Pd(1)Au(24)(SC(12)H(25))(18)](0) has a core-shell [Pd(1)@Au(24)(SC(12)H(25))(18)](0) structure in which the central Pd atom is surrounded by a frame of Au(24)(SC(12)H(25))(18). Experiments on the stability of the cluster showed that Pd(1)@Au(24)(SC(12)H(25))(18) is more stable against degradation in solution and laser dissociation than Au(25)(SC(12)H(25))(18). These results indicate that the doping of a central atom is a powerful method to increase the stability beyond the Au(25)(SR)(18) cluster.

Trinuclear Mixed-valent Gold Complexes Derived from 2-C6F4PPh2: Phosphine Oxide Complexes of Gold(III) and an ortho-Metallated Complex of Gold(I)

Crystals of two mixed-valent gold complexes [(O2NO)AuI(μ-2-C6F4PPh2)AuIII{κ2-2-C6- F4P(O)Ph2}(μ-2-C6F4PPh2)AuI(ONO2)] (14) and [(O2NO)AuI(μ-2-C6F4PPh2)AuIII{κ3-2-C6F4- P(O)Ph(C6H4)}(μ-2-C6F4PPh2)AuI] (15) have been obtained from the reaction of the digold(I,III) complex [ClAuI(μ-2-C6F4PPh2)(κ2-2-C6F4PPh2)AuIIICl] (5) with, respectively, a small and a large excess of silver nitrate. Both complexes contain three, approximately collinear metal atoms, the central gold(III) atom being planar-coordinated by a chelate (O,C)-phosphine oxide formed by oxidation of 2-C6F4PPh2 and the carbon atoms of two bridging 2-C6F4PPh2 groups. In 14 each of the terminal gold(I) atoms is coordinated by a monodentate nitrate ion and the phosphorus atom of μ-2-C6F4PPh2, whereas in 15 the nitrate ion on one of the gold(I) atoms of 14 has been replaced by the carbon atom of a bridging C6H4 group derived by Ag+-promoted cyclometallation of a phenyl group on the neighbouring phosphine oxide

Nanoparticle: is it promising in capillary electrophoresis?

Separation sciences progress with size. On the one hand, extensive efforts devoted to miniaturization of analytical instruments have significantly promoted the development of this field. On the other hand, wide applications of novel materials with size at the sub-micron level as separation media have offered more and more opportunities for solving separation puzzles. The potential of nanostructured materials, e.g., nanoparticles (NPs), in chromatographic and electrophoretic techniques has gradually been discovered in recent years. NPs usually refer to a kind of nanomaterial with a spherical-like appearance measured in nanometers, sometimes up to 1500 nm, with a large surface-to-volume ratio and other fascinating properties derived from the “quantum size effect”. Existing NPs comprise the following [1–3]: fullerene NPs, silica NPs, precious metal NPs, metal oxide NPs, semiconductor quantum dots, and polymer-based NPs (i.e., polymer NPs, molecular micelles, molecularly imprinted polymers, and dendrimers). Surface modification with functional groups and/or molecules is a key procedure to prevent the prepared NPs from aggregation and to control the particle size, and also provide extra selectivity when the NPs are used as separation media. NPs are mostly stabilized by steric exclusion and electrostatic repulsion. A great breakthrough giving deep insight into the structure of nanometersized gold particles protected by p-mercaptobenzoic acid (p-MBA) has been achieved recently [4]. The prepared NP comprises 102 gold atoms and 44 p-MBAs (Fig. 1). The central gold atoms are packed in a Marks decahedron, surrounded by additional layers of gold atoms in unexpected geometries. The p-MBAs interact not only with the gold but also with one another, forming a rigid surface layer. It is interesting that particle aggregation can be utilized in sensitive detection of particular molecules, which can induce NP aggregation indicated by solution color change and monitored by electron microscopy [5].

Crystal Structure of the Gold Nanoparticle [N(C8H17)4][Au25(SCH2CH2Ph)18

We report the crystal structure of the thiolate gold nanoparticle [TOA+][Au25(SCH2CH2Ph)18-], where TOA+ = N(C8H17)4+. The crystal structure reveals three types of gold atoms: (a) one central gold atom whose coordination number is 12 (12 bonds to gold atoms); (b) 12 gold atoms that form the vertices of an icosahedron around the central atom, whose coordination number is 6 (five bonds to gold atoms and one to a sulfur atom), and (c) 12 gold atoms that are stellated on 12 of the 20 faces of the Au13 icosahedron. The arrangement of the latter gold atoms may be influenced by aurophilic bonding. Together they form six orthogonal semirings, or staples, of -Au2(SCH2CH2Ph)3- in an octahedral arrangement around the Au13 core.

Structure of a Thiol Monolayer-Protected Gold Nanoparticle at 1.1 Å Resolution

Structural information on nanometer-sized gold particles has been limited, due in part to the problem of preparing homogeneous material. Here we report the crystallization and x-ray structure determination of a p-mercaptobenzoic acid (p-MBA)-protected gold nanoparticle, which comprises 102 gold atoms and 44 p-MBAs. The central gold atoms are packed in a Marks decahedron, surrounded by additional layers of gold atoms in unanticipated geometries. The p-MBAs interact not only with the gold but also with one another, forming a rigid surface layer. The particles are chiral, with the two enantiomers alternating in the crystal lattice. The discrete nature of the particle may be explained by the closing of a 58-electron shell.

Co-ordination and conformational isomerism in bis(tricyclohexylphosphine) gold(I) halides

Solid state complexes of bis(tricyclohexylphosphine)gold(I) with halide counter ions, Au(PCy3)2X (X = Cl, Br or I), have been crystallised from solutions of [NBu4][AuX2] and PCy3 in dimethylformamide and characterised by single crystal structure determinations, far-infrared spectroscopy and solid state 31P CP MAS NMR spectroscopy. The results show the complexes crystallise as a unique array of co-ordination and conformational isomers which reflect the conformational flexibility of the tricyclohexylphosphine ligand and the relative preferences of the halide anions for C–H· · ·X–versus Au+· · ·X– bonding interactions. The chloride crystallises as a single ionic complex, [Au(PCy3)2]+Cl–, with the gold two-co-ordinate and the cations and anions well separated in the crystal lattice. The bromide crystallises as three different polymorphs with four distinct molecular structures. The first (α) form crystallises as ionic [Au(PCy3)2]+Br– with the bromide adjacent to but not co-ordinated to the gold. The second (β) form presents two crystallographically independent [Au(PCy3)2Br] molecules with semi-co-ordinated bromide and significant differences in the conformational dispositions of the PCy3 ligands. The third (γ) form crystallises as [Au(PCy3)2Br] with fully co-ordinated bromide. The iodide crystallises with semi-co-ordinated and co-ordinated iodide in [Au(PCy3)2I]·PCy3 and [Au(PCy3)2I] complexes respectively. The study provides an unusual series of molecular ‘vignettes’ in which the response of the [Au(PCy3)2]+ cation to halide anion can be monitored as it passes through the ligand substituents and co-ordinates to the central gold atom.