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Crystal structure of a NIR‐Emitting DNA‐Stabilized Ag 16 Nanocluster
Author(s) -
Cerretani Cecilia,
Kanazawa Hiroki,
Vosch Tom,
Kondo Jiro
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201906766
Subject(s) - nanoclusters , stacking , crystallography , dna , fluorescence , crystal structure , crystal (programming language) , chemistry , dna origami , luminescence , materials science , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , biochemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , computer science , programming language , optoelectronics
Abstract DNA has been used as a scaffold to stabilize small, atomically monodisperse silver nanoclusters, which have attracted attention due to their intriguing photophysical properties. Herein, we describe the X‐ray crystal structure of a DNA‐encapsulated, near‐infrared emitting Ag 16 nanocluster (DNA–Ag 16 NC). The asymmetric unit of the crystal contains two DNA–Ag 16 NCs and the crystal packing between the DNA–Ag 16 NCs is promoted by several interactions, such as two silver‐mediated base pairs between 3′‐terminal adenines, two phosphate–Ca 2+ –phosphate interactions, and π‐stacking between two neighboring thymines. Each Ag 16 NC is confined by two DNA decamers that take on a horse‐shoe‐like conformation and is almost fully shielded from the solvent environment. This structural insight will aid in the determination of the structure/photophysical property relationship for this class of emitters and opens up new research opportunities in fluorescence imaging and sensing using noble‐metal clusters.