A New Class of Atomically Precise, Hydride-Rich Silver Nanoclusters Co-Protected by Phosphines

Abstract

Thiols and phosphines are the most widely used organic ligands to attain atomically precise metal nanoclusters (NCs). Here, we used simple hydrides (e.g., H – ) as ligands along with phosphines, such as triphenylphosphine (TPP), 1,2-bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane [DPPE], and tris(4-fluorophenyl)phosphine [TFPP] to design and synthesize a new class of hydride-rich silver NCs. This class includes [Ag 18 H 16 (TPP) 10 ] 2+, [Ag 25 H 22 (DPPE) 8 ] 3+, and [Ag 26 H 22 (TFPP) 13 ] 2+ . Our work reveals a new family of atomically precise NCs protected by H – ligands and labile phosphines, with potentially more accessible active metal sites for functionalization and provides a new set of stable NC sizes with simpler ligand–metal bonding for researchers to explore both experimentally and computationally.