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Chiral 38‐Gold‐Atom Nanoclusters: Synthesis and Chiroptical Properties
Author(s) -
Xu Qian,
Kumar Santosh,
Jin Shenshen,
Qian Huifeng,
Zhu Manzhou,
Jin Rongchao
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
small
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.785
H-Index - 236
eISSN - 1613-6829
pISSN - 1613-6810
DOI - 10.1002/smll.201302279
Subject(s) - nanoclusters , circular dichroism , ligand (biochemistry) , enantioselective synthesis , materials science , chirality (physics) , crystallography , photochemistry , absorption spectroscopy , stereochemistry , chemistry , catalysis , nanotechnology , organic chemistry , physics , chiral symmetry , optics , quark , nambu–jona lasinio model , biochemistry , receptor , quantum mechanics
Enantioselective synthesis of chiral Au 38 nanoclusters is achieved with chiral 2‐phenylpropane‐1‐thiol (abbreviated as R/S‐PET, organic soluble), captopril and glutathione (water soluble) as the respective ligand. The circular dichroism (CD) spectra of Au 38 (R‐PET) 24 and Au 38 (S‐PET) 24 show multiple bands which are precisely mirror‐imaged, while their normal optical absorption spectra are identical with each other and also superimposable with that of the racemic Au 38 (SCH 2 CH 2 Ph) 24 nanoclusters. The observed CD signals are not from the chiral ligands themselves (which only give rise to CD signals in the UV (<250 nm), rather than in the visible wavelength region). Chiral Au 38 nanoclusters with different types of ligands are further compared. Although the Au 38 core is intrinsically chiral, different chiral ligands are found to largely influence the chiroptical response of the overall nanocluster. Thus, the chiral response of ligand‐protected nanoclusters has both contributions from the metal core and the ligand shell around it. These optically active nanoclusters hold promise in future applications such as chiral sensing and catalysis.