A ten-electron (10e) thiolate-protected Au29(SR)19cluster: structure prediction and a 'gold-atom insertion, thiolate-group elimination' mechanism.
The atomic structure of a ten-electron (10e) thiolate-protected gold cluster, denoted as Au29(SR)19, was theoretically predicted. Based on the prediction of the atomic structure of the 10e Au29(SR)19cluster, we proposed a novel 'gold-atom insertion, thiolate-group elimination' mechanism to understand the structural evolution of the face-centered-cubic (fcc) thiolate-protected gold clusters. The key step of structural evolution from Au28(SR)20to Au29(SR)19and then to the Au30(SR)18cluster, i.e. the growth of triangle-Au3units in the gold cores, is understood from the first insertion of an exterior Au(0) atom into the ligand shell and then cleavage of μ3-SR groups.
Department of Chemistry, Xiangtan University, P. R. China. ypnku78@gmail.com.
Lin
L
Xiong
Research Institute of Petroleum Exploration & Development (RIPED), PetroChina, P. R. China and Key Laboratory of Nano Chemistry (KLNC), Petrochina, P. R. China.
Baoliang
B
Peng
Department of Chemistry, Xiangtan University, P. R. China. ypnku78@gmail.com.
Zhongyun
Z
Ma
Department of Chemistry, Xiangtan University, P. R. China. ypnku78@gmail.com.
Pu
P
Wang
Department of Chemistry, Xiangtan University, P. R. China. ypnku78@gmail.com.
Yong
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0585-2045
Y
Pei