title: Controlled synthesis and characterization of the elusive thiolated Ag55 cluster.
abstract: A stable, Ag55 cluster protected with 4-(tert-butyl)benzyl mercaptan (BBSH) was synthesized which exhibits two prominent absorption bands with maxima at 2.25 and 2.81 eV. A molecular ion peak at m/z 11 500 ± 20 in matrix assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrum (MALDI MS), assigned to Ag55(BBS)31 was observed. Electrospray ionization (ESI MS) shows a prominent trication along with higher charged species. An analogous Ag55(PET)31 (PET = 2-phenylethanethiol, in the thiolate form) was also synthesized under optimized conditions which proves the amenability of this cluster and the synthetic methodology to other ligands.
authors.affiliation: DST Unit of Nanoscience (DST UNS) and Thematic Unit of Excellence, Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600 036, India. pradeep@iitm.ac.in.
authors.forename: Indranath
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Chakraborty
authors.forename: Shrabani
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mahata
authors.forename: Anuradha
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mitra
authors.forename: Goutam
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De
authors.forename: Thalappil
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Pradeep