Investigating the role of amine in InP nanocrystal synthesis: destabilizing cluster intermediates by Z-type ligand displacementElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Complete experimental details and additional experimental and computational data and analysis. CCDC 1507652. For ESI and crystallographic data in CIF or other electronic format see DOI: 10.1039/c6cc07952k

The reaction of primary amines with In 37 P 20 (O 2 CR) 51 is found to remove In(O 2 CR) 3 subunits from In 37 P 20 (O 2 CR) 51 . This loss of Z-type ligands coincides with structural rearrangement to alleviate core strain and passivate phosphorus atoms. This result consolidates conflicting claims that primary amines both promote and retard precursor conversion rates for InP nanocrystals. The reaction of primary amines with carboxylate-capped InP clusters is found to remove indium carboxylate subunits from the cluster surface, resulting in a structural rearrangement to alleviate core strain and passivate phosphorus atoms.