Gold nanowired: a linear (Au25)(n) polymer from Au25 molecular clusters.

De Nardi, Marco; Antonello, Sabrina; Jiang, De-en; Pan, Fangfang; Rissanen, Kari; Ruzzi, Marco; Venzo, Alfonso; Zoleo, Alfonso et al. · ACS Nano · 2014

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Au25(SR)18 has provided fundamental insights into the properties of clusters protected by monolayers of thiolated ligands (SR). Because of its ultrasmall core, 1 nm, Au25(SR)18 displays molecular behavior. We prepared a Au25 cluster capped by n-butanethiolates (SBu), obtained its structure by single-crystal X-ray crystallography, and studied its properties both experimentally and theoretically. Whereas in solution Au25(SBu)18(0) is a paramagnetic molecule, in the crystal it becomes a linear polymer of Au25 clusters connected via single Au-Au bonds and stabilized by proper orientation of clusters and interdigitation of ligands. At low temperature, [Au25(SBu)18(0)]n has a nonmagnetic ground state and can be described as a one-dimensional antiferromagnetic system. These findings provide a breakthrough into the properties and possible solid-state applications of molecular gold nanowires.