Arylgold nanoclusters: Phenyl-stabilized Au<sub>44</sub> with thermal-controlled NIR single/dual-channel phosphorescence.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 38354237.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.adm6928 and PMC identifier 10866543.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Arylation of gold holds paramount importance in the domain of organometallic chemistry; however, the exploration of arylgold nanoclusters remains in its infancy primarily due to the synthetic challenge. Here, we present a facile and effective arylation strategy to directly synthesize two arylgold nanoclusters (<b>Au44a</b> and <b>Au44b</b>), by using tetraarylborates, capable of transferring aryl fragments to metal centers. X-ray crystallography reveals that both Au<sub>44</sub> nanoclusters contain an Au<sub>44</sub> kernel co-protected by six aryl groups, two tetrahydrothiophene, and 16 alkynyl-ether ligands, the latter is generated in situ through Williamson ether reaction during the assembly processes. Notably, Au<sub>44</sub> nanoclusters exhibit near-infrared (NIR) phosphorescence (λ<sub>max</sub> = 958 nm) and microsecond radiative relaxation at ambient condition, which is a thermal-controlled single/dual-channel phosphorescent emission revealed by temperature-dependent NIR, time-resolved emission, and femtosecond/nanosecond transition absorption spectra. This work represents a breakthrough in using aryl as protective ligands for the construction of gold nanoclusters, which is poised to have a transformative impact on organometallic nanoclusters.