Intracluster ligand rearrangement: an NMR-based thermodynamic study

Nanoscale. 2023 Apr 6;15(14):6838-6843. doi: 10.1039/d3nr00360d.

Abstract

Ligand and metal exchange reactions are powerful methods to tailor the properties of atomically precise metal nanoclusters. Hence, a deep understanding of the mechanisms behind the dynamics that rule the ligand monolayer is crucial for its specific functionalization. Combining variable-temperature NMR experiments and dynamic-NMR simulations, we extract the thermodynamic activation parameters of a new exchange reaction: the intracluster ligand rearrangement between the two symmetry-unique positions in [Ag25(DMBT)18]- and [Ag24Au(DMBT)18]- clusters. We report for the first time that this peculiar intracluster modification does not seem to proceed via metal-sulphur bond breaking and follows a first-order rate law, being therefore a process independent from the well-described collisional ligand exchange.