Seeking a Au–C stretch on gold nanoparticles with 13C-labeled N-heterocyclic carbenes

Abstract

Gold nanoparticles were functionalized with natural abundance and ¹³C-labeled N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) to investigate the Au–C stretch. A combinatorial approach of surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) and density-functional theory (DFT) calculations highlighted vibrational modes significantly impacted by isotopic labeling at the carbene carbon. Critically, no isotopically-impacted stretching mode showed majority Au–C character.