From the journal:

Nanoscale

Ultrasmall glutathione-protected Au/Cu and their alloy nanoclusters with specific ROS generation

Ling Chen,a   Tianfeng Pan,a   Jing Jin,a   Xuejiao Yang,a   Wencai Sun,a   Zicheng Wanyan,a   Haizhu Yu ORCID logo *a  and  Manzhou Zhu ORCID logo a  

* Corresponding authors

a Department of Chemistry and Centre for Atomic Engineering of Advanced Materials, Key Laboratory of Structure and Functional Regulation of Hybrid Materials of Ministry of Education, Institutes of Physical Science and Information Technology and Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Chemistry for Inorganic/Organic Hybrid Functionalized Materials, Anhui University, Hefei, Anhui 230601, China

Abstract

In this study, three glutathione (GSH)-protected nanoclusters ([Au5(SG)3]−, [Au9Cu2(SG)7]3− and [Cu7(SG)5]3+) were synthesized and characterized by ESI-MS, EPR, NMR and XPS. Each cluster exhibits a specificity in generating a distinct reactive oxygen species (ROS), specifically hydroxyl radicals (˙OH), singlet oxygen (1O2), or superoxide anions (O2˙−), under ambient conditions. This unique performance highlights not only the clusters’ structural and functional specificity in ROS generation, but also their promising potential for advancing bioclinical applications.

Graphical abstract: Ultrasmall glutathione-protected Au/Cu and their alloy nanoclusters with specific ROS generation

About
Cited by
Related
Download options Please wait...

Supplementary files

Article information

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1039/D5NR04022A
Article type
Communication
Submitted
23 Sep 2025
Accepted
30 Nov 2025
First published
02 Dec 2025

Nanoscale, 2025, Advance Article

Permissions

Request permissions

Ultrasmall glutathione-protected Au/Cu and their alloy nanoclusters with specific ROS generation

L. Chen, T. Pan, J. Jin, X. Yang, W. Sun, Z. Wanyan, H. Yu and M. Zhu, Nanoscale, 2025, Advance Article , DOI: 10.1039/D5NR04022A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements