Hongting Sheng

Crystal Structure of Selenolate-Protected Au24(SeR)20 Nanocluster

We report the X-ray structure of a selenolate-capped Au24(SeR)20 nanocluster (R = C6H5). It exhibits a prolate Au8 kernel, which can be viewed as two tetrahedral Au4 units cross-joined together without sharing any Au atoms. The kernel is protected by two trimeric Au3(SeR)4 staple-like motifs as well as two pentameric Au5(SeR)6 staple motifs. Compared to the reported gold-thiolate nanocluster structures, the features of the Au8 kernel and pentameric Au5(SeR)6 staple motif are unprecedented and provide a structural basis for understanding the gold-selenolate nanoclusters.

The Structure and Optical Properties of the [Au18(SR)14] Nanocluster

Decreasing the core size is one of the best ways to study the evolution from Au(I) complexes into Au nanoclusters. Toward this goal, we successfully synthesized the [Au18(SC6H11)14] nanocluster using the [Au18(SG)14] (SG=L-glutathione) nanocluster as the starting material to react with cyclohexylthiol, and determined the X-ray structure of the cyclohexylthiol-protected [Au18(C6H11S)14] nanocluster. The [Au18(SR)14] cluster has a Au9 bi-octahedral kernel (or inner core). This Au9 inner core is built by two octahedral Au6 cores sharing one triangular face. One transitional gold atom is found in the Au9 core, which can also be considered as part of the Au4(SR)5 staple motif. These findings offer new insight in terms of understanding the evolution from [Au(I)(SR)] complexes into Au nanoclusters.

Total Structure Determination of Au21(S-Adm)15 and Geometrical/Electronic Structure Evolution of Thiolated Gold Nanoclusters

The larger size gold nanoparticles typically adopt a face-centered cubic (fcc) atomic packing, while in the ultrasmall nanoclusters the packing styles of Au atoms are diverse, including fcc, hexagonal close packing (hcp), and body-centered cubic (bcc), depending on the ligand protection. The possible conversion between these packing structures is largely unknown. Herein, we report the growth of a new Au21(S-Adm)15 nanocluster (S-Adm = adamantanethiolate) from Au18(SR)14 (SR = cyclohexylthiol), with the total structure determined by X-ray crystallography. It is discovered that the hcp Au9-core in Au18(SR)14 is transformed to a fcc Au10-core in Au21(S-Adm)15. Combining with density functional theory (DFT) calculations, we provide critical information about the growth mechanism (geometrical and electronic structure) and the origin of fcc-structure formation for the thiolate-protected gold nanoclusters.

Crystallization-induced emission enhancement: A novel fluorescent Au-Ag bimetallic nanocluster with precise atomic structure

Crystallization-induced emission enhancement was achieved in metal nanoclusters for the first time. We report the first noble metal nanocluster with a formula of Au4Ag13(DPPM)3(SR)9 exhibiting crystallization-induced emission enhancement (CIEE), where DPPM denotes bis(diphenylphosphino)methane and HSR denotes 2,5-dimethylbenzenethiol. The precise atomic structure is determined by x-ray crystallography. The crystalline state of Au4Ag13 shows strong luminescence at 695 nm, in striking contrast to the weak emission of the amorphous state and hardly any emission in solution phase. The structural analysis and the density functional theory calculations imply that the compact C–H⋯π interactions significantly restrict the intramolecular rotations and vibrations and thus considerably enhance the radiative transitions in the crystalline state. Because the noncovalent interactions can be easily modulated via varying the chemical environments, the CIEE phenomenon might represent a general strategy to amplify the fluorescence from weakly (or even non-) emissive nanoclusters.

Heterobimetallic dinuclear lanthanide alkoxide complexes as acid-base difunctional catalysts for transesterification.

A practical lanthanide(III)-catalyzed transesterification of carboxylic esters, weakly reactive carbonates, and much less-reactive ethyl silicate with primary and secondary alcohols was developed. Heterobimetallic dinuclear lanthanide alkoxide complexes [Ln2Na8{(OCH2CH2NMe2)}12(OH)2] (Ln = Nd (I), Sm (II), and Yb (III)) were used as highly active catalysts for this reaction. The mild reaction conditions enabled the transesterification of various substrates to proceed in good to high yield. Efficient activation of transesterification may be endowed by the above complexes as cooperative acid-base difunctional catalysts, which is proposed to be responsible for the higher reactivity in comparison with simple acid/base catalysts.

Heterobimetallic dinuclear lanthanide alkoxide complexes as acid–base bifunctional catalysts for synthesis of carbamates under solvent-free conditions

Heterobimetallic dinuclear lanthanide alkoxide complexes Ln2Na8(OCH2CH2NMe2)12(OH)2 [Ln: I (Nd), II (Sm), III (Yb) and IV (Y)] were used as efficient acid–base bifunctional catalysts for the synthesis of carbamates from dialkyl carbonates and amines as well as the N-Boc protection of amines. The cooperative catalysts showed high catalytic activity and a wide scope of substrates with good to excellent yields under solvent-free conditions. The systems have shown higher catalytic activities due to the noteworthy synergistic interactions of Lewis acid center–Bronsted basic center. The comparison of catalytic efficiency between mono- and dinuclear heterobimetallic lanthanide alkoxide analogues was also investigated.

An Efficient and Green Approach to Synthesizing Enamines by Intermolecular Hydroamination of Activated Alkynes

An efficient, atom-economic and green approach to synthesizing enamines was developed by intermolecular hydroamination of activated alkynes with high yields under catalyst- and solvent-free conditions. β-Dimethylamino-acrylate derivatives were also obtained with high yields. In the synthetic process of the derivatives, N,N-dimethylformamide(DMF) pretreated with metal Na, was used as reactant instead of dimethylamine gas. The proposed synthetic method can be used for the synthesis of (E)-ethyl-3-(dimethylamino)acrylate(3cl), and provide a new possible way to the synthesis of Quinolones.

An anti-galvanic reduction single-molecule fluorescent probe for detection of Cu(II)

An anti-galvanic reduction method using [Ag62S13(SBut)32]4+ nanoclusters as the metal ion probe for detecting Cu2+ is reported here. We found [Ag62S13(SBut)32]4+ can reduce more reactive Cu2+ with a quantitative relationship. The single molecule fluorescence imaging shows that Ag62 NCs could be used as a single molecule probe for detecting Cu2+.

Rational encapsulation of atomically precise nanoclusters into metal–organic frameworks by electrostatic attraction for CO2 conversion

Controlled encapsulation of atomically precise nanoclusters (APNCs) into metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) has been an efficient way to create new types of multifunctional crystalline porous materials. Such hybrids (APNCs@MOFs) provide ideal candidates for studying inherent structure–catalysis relationships owing to the well-defined compositions of both components. Moreover, modeling of APNCs@MOFs with precise structures would be more reliable. Herein, we have established an “Electrostatic Attraction Strategy” to synthesize APNCs@MOF catalysts and studied their performance as catalysts for the conversion of CO2. The synthetic strategy presented here has been proved to be general, as evidenced by the syntheses of various APNCs@MOF catalysts including all the combinations of [Au12Ag32(SR)30]4−, [Ag44(SR)30]4−, and [Ag12Cu28(SR)30]4− nanoclusters with ZIF-8, ZIF-67, and MHCF frameworks. In particular, the as-obtained Au12Ag32(SR)30@ZIF-8 composite shows excellent performance in capturing CO2 and converting phenylacetylene into phenylpropiolate under mild conditions (50 °C and ambient CO2 pressure) with a TON as high as 18 164, far exceeding those of most known catalysts. Whats more, the catalyst is very stable and reused 5 times without loss of catalytic activity. We anticipate that this general synthetic approach may open up a new frontier in the development of promising APNCs@MOF catalysts, which can be applied in a broad range of heterogeneous catalyses in the future.

Design of Atomically Precise Au2Pd6 Nanoclusters for Boosting Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution on MoS2

Atomically precise nanoclusters (NCs) have been widely used as catalysts in many reactions to investigate the structure–activity relationship due to their ultrasmall sizes, well-defined structures and precise compositions, especially bimetallic NCs can further promote the catalytic activity by the synergistic effects of heteroatoms. For electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalysts, a common method to improve the performance is coupling with a nano-metal, but the origin of the enhancement is still unclear due to the diversity and complexity of the nanometal supported composites. Here, we take MoS2 (a star HER electrocatalyst) as an example, to report a strategy to boost the activity and give insight into the activity enhancement of it by combining with bimetallic atomically precise NCs. The crystal structure of this new NC is determined by X-ray crystallography, and its precise composition is identified as Au2Pd6S4(PPh3)4(C6H4F2S)6 (Au2Pd6 for short). The Au2Pd6/MoS2 show significantly improved HER activity and robust durability compared to the single component Pd3 or Au2/MoS2 and bare MoS2. This is attributed to the appropriate adsorption behavior of H atoms on Au2Pd6/MoS2 and the electronic interactions between NCs and MoS2, according to the combination of experiment and theory. This study presents a new strategy to improve the electrocatalytic activity of 2D materials such as MoS2 and sheds light on the origin of the promotion effects at the atomic level.