Design of a polymer ligand for the one-step preparation of highly stable fluorescent Ag 5 clusters for tissue labeling

Highly stable water-soluble fluorescent Ag clusters with a quantum yield of 9.7% were synthesized using a specially designed tridentate polymer ligand by one-step reduction. The fluorescence may be associated with the dominant Ag species on the surface of the clusters. The resultant Ag nanoclusters were used as biomarkers to label mouse liver tissues successfully for the first time.