Bridging the gap: thymine segments to create single-strand versions of DNA2-[Ag₁₆Cl₂]8+

Abstract

Significant efforts have been invested in unraveling the stucture-property relationship of DNA-AgNCs using relatively short DNA sequences. Due to the limited sequence length, two or more strands are often required to stabilize a DNA-AgNC. Therefore, functionalization inherently introduces multiple reactive sites, hindering the implementation of single-site linking strategies. Here, we exploit the concept of using an inert thymine linking segment to connect two small DNA strands to develop a single-strand version of a DNA₂-[Ag₁₆Cl₂]⁸⁺. Our results demonstrate that these redesigned constructs preserve the core AgNC structure and photophysical properties, while enabling future single-site functionalization. Furthermore, this approach allows experimental confirmation of the inertness of thymine linking segments towards silver.