Issue 31, 2021

Synthesis and enantioseparation of chiral Au13 nanoclusters protected by bis-N-heterocyclic carbene ligands

Abstract

A series of chiral Au13 nanoclusters were synthesized via the direct reduction of achiral dinuclear Au(I) halide complexes ligated by ortho-xylyl-linked bis-N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligands. A broad range of functional groups are tolerated as wingtip substituents, allowing for the synthesis of a variety of functionalized chiral Au13 nanoclusters. Single crystal X-ray crystallography confirmed the molecular formula to be [Au13(bisNHC)5Cl2]Cl3, with a chiral helical arrangement of the five bidentate NHC ligands around the icosahedral Au13 core. This Au13 nanocluster is highly luminescent, with a quantum yield of 23%. The two enantiomers of the Au13 clusters can be separated by chiral HPLC, and the isolated enantiomers were characterized by circular dichroism spectroscopy. The clusters show remarkable stability, including configurational stability, opening the door to further investigation of the effect of chirality on these clusters.

Graphical abstract: Synthesis and enantioseparation of chiral Au13 nanoclusters protected by bis-N-heterocyclic carbene ligands

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
02 jun 2021
Accepted
27 jun 2021
First published
02 jul 2021
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Chem. Sci., 2021,12, 10436-10440

Synthesis and enantioseparation of chiral Au13 nanoclusters protected by bis-N-heterocyclic carbene ligands

H. Yi, K. M. Osten, T. I. Levchenko, A. J. Veinot, Y. Aramaki, T. Ooi, M. Nambo and C. M. Crudden, Chem. Sci., 2021, 12, 10436 DOI: 10.1039/D1SC03076K

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