Chiral Ag23 nanocluster with open shell electronic structure and helical face-centered cubic framework

We report the synthesis and crystal structure of a nanocluster composed of 23 silver atoms capped by 8 phosphine and 18 phenylethanethiolate ligands. X-ray crystallographic analysis reveals that the kernel of the Ag nanocluster adopts a helical face-centered cubic structure with C 2 symmetry. The thiolate ligands show two binding patterns with the surface Ag atoms: tri- and tetra-podal types. The tetra-coordination mode of thiolate has not been found in previous Ag nanoclusters. No counter ion (e.g., Na + and NO 3 − ) is found in the single-crystal and the absence of such ions is also confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis, indicating electrical neutrality of the nanocluster. Interestingly, the nanocluster has an open shell electronic structure (i.e., 23(Ag 5 s 1 )–18(SR) = 5e), as confirmed by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy. Time-dependent density functional theory calculations are performed to correlate the structure and optical absorption/emission spectra of the Ag nanocluster. Chiral noble metal nanostructures are particularly interesting for optical materials and enantioselective catalysis. Here, the authors report the synthesis and crystal structure of a chiral Ag 23 nanocluster, whose twisted fcc skeleton is responsible for its chiral nature–an unusual property for silver.