Silver clusters with ~10 atoms form within DNA strands, and the conjugates are chemical sensors. The DNA host hybridizes with short oligonucleotides, and the cluster moieties optically respond to these analytes. Our studies focus on how the cluster adducts perturb the structure of their DNA hosts. Our sensor is comprised of an oligonucleotide with two components: a 5'-cluster domain that comple...

A red luminescent silver cluster was synthesized in milligram quantities by the direct core reduction of the most widely studied class of large silver nanoparticles, namely silver@citrate of tens of nanometres diameter. No byproducts such as thiolates were detected, unlike in the case of typical methods of making such clusters. The route provides nearly pure clusters. The possibility to make di...

We investigate the optical properties of spherical gold and silver clusters with diameters of 20 nm and larger. The light scattering spectra of individual clusters are measured using dark-field microscopy, thus avoiding inhomogeneous broadening effects. The dipolar plasmon resonances of the clusters are found to have nearly Lorentzian line shapes. With increasing size we observe polaritonic red...

A polyoxometalate-silver ethynide composite cluster, [Ag42(CO3){C≡CC(CH3)3}27(α-A-SiW9Nb3O40)2](-) (1), demonstrates that we can select the binding site of a polyoxometalate to the silver alkynide cluster by tuning the surface charge of the precursor polyoxometalate. Multidimensional and multinuclear NMR spectra revealed that 1 maintains its precise atomic connectivity in the solution.

We report a high yielding synthesis of truly monodisperse, thiolate-protected silver clusters via a rationally designed approach. The cluster composition was determined by electrospray ionization (ESI) mass spectrometry to be Ag(7)(DMSA)(4), where DMSA represents meso-2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid. The Ag(7) thiolate clusters exhibit distinct optical properties. The approach developed in this wor...

Singly charged silver-cluster anions are produced in a laser vaporization source and transferred into a Penning trap. After size selection the clusters are subjected to an electron bath in the trap, which results in the attachment of further electrons. The relative abundance of dianions or trianions as a function of the clusters’ size is analyzed by time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Silver-clus...

Interaction between nitrobenzene and silver cluster is investigated using the Density Functional Theory (DFT) at the B3PW91 level of theory. Adsorption causes a variation in the structural parameters. The charge transfer from silver cluster to nitrobenzene is identified from the plot of the molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) surface and natural population analysis (NPA). A marked enhanceme...

Electrospray ionization of metal salt solutions followed by ambient heating transforms the resulting salt clusters into new species, primarily naked ionic metal clusters. The experiment is done by passing the clusters through a heated coiled loop outside the mass spectrometer which releases the counter-anion while generating the anionic or cationic naked metal cluster. The nature of the anion i...