All-selenolate-protected eight-electron platinum/silver nanoclusters
Tzu‐Hao Chiu, Jian‐Hong Liao, Franck Gam, Isaac Chantrenne, Samia Kahlal, Jean‐Yves Saillard, C. W. Liu
Abstract
icosahedral core embedded within a cube of eight silver(i) atoms and wrapped into a shell of 12 diselenophosph(in)ates. While the lowest energy absorption band of the Se derivatives is red-shifted to longer wavelengths in comparison with the S analogue, it is blue-shifted in the emission spectra. Density functional theory (DFT) and TD-DFT calculations rationalize the electronic structures as those of eight-electron superatoms, with their HOMO and LUMO being the 1P and 1D levels, respectively. The two UV-visible lowest bands are associated with 1P → 1D metal to metal charge transfer (MMCT) transitions. The blue shift observed for the S analogue results from a larger HOMO-LUMO gap in the case of dithiolate ligands.