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One-step synthesis and XPS investigations of chiral NHC–Au(0)/Au(i) nanoparticles

Young, Adam J., Sauer, Markus, Rubio, Guilherme M. D. M., Sato, Akiko, Foelske, Annette, Serpell, Christopher J., Chin, Jia Min, Reithofer, Michael R. (2019) One-step synthesis and XPS investigations of chiral NHC–Au(0)/Au(i) nanoparticles. Nanoscale, 11 (17). pp. 8327-8333. ISSN 2040-3364. (doi:10.1039/C9NR00905A) (KAR id:73933)

Abstract

Although N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) have been demonstrated as suitable ligands for the stabilisation of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) through a variety of methods, the manner in which such AuNPs form is yet to be fully elucidated. We report a simple and fast one-step synthesis of uniform chiral (L/D)-histidin-2-ylidene stabilised gold nanoparticles using the organometallic Au(I) complex as a well defined starting material. The resulting nanoparticles have an average size of 2.35 ± 0.43 nm for the L analog whereas an average size of 2.25 ± 0.39 nm was found for the D analog. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses reveal the presence of Au(I) and Au(0) in all NHC stabilised AuNPs. In contrast, measured X-ray photoelectron spectra of dodecanethiol protected gold nanoparticles showed only the presence of a Au(0) species. This observation leads us to postulate that AuNPs synthesised from organometallic NHC–Au(I) complexes exhibit a monolayer of Au(I) surrounding a Au(0) core. This work highlights the importance of synthetic method choice for NHC-stabilized AuNPs, as this could determine Au oxidation states and resulting AuNP properties such as catalytic activities and stabilities.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1039/C9NR00905A
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Natural Sciences > Physics and Astronomy
Depositing User: Christopher Serpell
Date Deposited: 16 May 2019 08:20 UTC
Last Modified: 28 Jul 2022 22:10 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/73933 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Sato, Akiko.

Creator's ORCID:
CReDIT Contributor Roles:

Serpell, Christopher J..

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2848-9077
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