Fabrication of a family of atomically precise silver nanoclusters via dual-level kinetic control

Abstract

The controllable preparation of metal nanoclusters in high yield is an essential prerequisite for their fundamental research and extensive application. Here a synthetic approach termed “dual-level kinetic control” was developed to fabricate a family of new silver nanoclusters. The introduction of secondary ligands was first exploited to retard the reduction rate and accomplish the first-level kinetic control. And the cooling of the reaction was performed to further slow the reduction down and accomplish the second-level kinetic control. A family of atomically precise silver nanoclusters (including [Ag25(SR)18]−, [Ag34(SR)18(DPPP)3Cl4]2+, [Ag36(SR)26S4]2+, [Ag37(SR)25Cl1]+, and [Ag52(SR)28Cl4]2+) were controllably prepared and structurally determined. The developed “dual-level kinetic control” hopefully acts as a powerful synthetic tool to manufacture more nanoclusters with unprecedented compositions, structures, and properties.