Investigation of atomically precise Au nanoclusters provides a route to understand the roles of coordination, size, and ligand effects on Au catalysis. Herein, we explored the catalytic behavior of a newly synthesized Au22(L8)6 nanocluster (L = 1,8-bis(diphenylphosphino) octane) with in situ uncoordinated Au sites supported on TiO2, CeO2, and Al2O3. Stability of the supported Au22 nanoclusters ...

TM@ZniSi nanoclusters have been characterized by means of the Density Functional Theory, in which Transition Metal (TM) stands from Y to Cd, and i = 12 and 16. These two nanoclusters have been chosen owing to their highly spheroidal shape which allow for favored endohedral structures as compared to other nanoclusters. Doping with TM is chosen due to their magnetic properties. In similar cluster...

Atomically precise gold nanoclusters are ideal model catalysts with well-defined compositions and tunable structures. Determination of the ligand effect on catalysis requires the use of gold nanoclusters with protecting ligands as the only variable. Two isostructural Au38 nanoclusters, [Au38(L)20(Ph3P)4]2+ (L = alkynyl or thiolate), have been synthesized by a direct reduction method, and they h...

Atomically uniform nucleation products of ligated metal nanoclusters are observed irrespective of reduction conditions for metal-bidentate ligand systems. Monodentate ligands are not reported to wield similar control, indicating steric contributions of complexing ligands may be as important as their electronic structure for synthesizing small nanoclusters.

Chiral mixed ligand silver nanoclusters were synthesized in the presence of a chiral and an achiral ligand. While the chiral ligand led mostly to the formation of nanoparticles, the presence of the achiral ligand drastically increased the yield of nanoclusters with enhanced chiral properties.

A facile boiling water synthesis protocol has been developed to synthesize thiolated Ag nanoclusters with a core-shell Ag(0)@Ag(i)-thiolate structure, which was formed through condensation of Ag(i)-thiolate complexes on the surface of an in situ formed Ag(0) core. The as-synthesized thiolated Ag nanoclusters feature strong luminescence via aggregation-induced-emission (AIE).

The stabilization effect of Au towards Pd changed the reactivity of Pd in Au/Pd bimetallic nanoclusters, altering the reaction mechanism from homogeneous to heterogeneous in dechlorination reaction of aryl chlorides. This phenomenon was illustrated by the observed enhancement of the rate of reaction by in situ generated Au-rich bimetallic Au/Pd nanoclusters.

A peptide was designed to generate a sub-nanometric template that guides the growth of fluorescent gold nanoclusters. The peptide was endorsed with nucleating moieties and a three-dimensional structure that arrests the growth of ultrasmall nanoparticles. The nanoclusters are not cytotoxic and can be found in the cytosol of cells.

A combination strategy of the inverse emulsion crosslinking approach and the colloidal assembly technique is first proposed to synthesize Fe3O4/histidine composite nanoclusters as new-type magnetic porous nanomaterials. The nanoclusters possess uniform morphology, high magnetic content and excellent protein adsorption capacity, exhibiting their great potential for bio-separation.