Enantioselective synthesis of chiral Au₃₈ nanoclusters is achieved with chiral 2‐phenylpropane‐1‐thiol (abbreviated as R/S‐PET, organic soluble), captopril and glutathione (water soluble) as the respective ligand. The circular dichroism (CD) spectra of Au₃₈(R‐PET)₂₄ and Au₃₈(S‐PET)₂₄ show multiple bands which are precisely mirror‐imaged, while their normal optical absorption spectra are identical with each other and also superimposable with that of the racemic Au₃₈(SCH₂CH₂Ph)₂₄ nanoclusters. The observed CD signals are not from the chiral ligands themselves (which only give rise to CD signals in the UV (<250 nm), rather than in the visible wavelength region). Chiral Au₃₈ nanoclusters with different types of ligands are further compared. Although the Au₃₈ core is intrinsically chiral, different chiral ligands are found to largely influence the chiroptical response of the overall nanocluster. Thus, the chiral response of ligand‐protected nanoclusters has both contributions from the metal core and the ligand shell around it. These optically active nanoclusters hold promise in future applications such as chiral sensing and catalysis.

中文翻译：

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手性38-金原子纳米簇：合成和手性性质

用手性2-苯基丙烷-1-硫醇（缩写为R / S-PET，有机可溶），卡托普利和谷胱甘肽（水溶性）作为各自的配体可实现手性Au ₃₈纳米簇的对映选择性合成。Au ₃₈（R‐PET）₂₄和Au ₃₈（S‐PET）₂₄的圆二色性（CD）光谱显示了多个精确镜像的谱带，而它们的正常光吸收谱彼此相同并且也可以与外消旋的Au ₃₈（SCH ₂ CH ₂ Ph）_24的纳米团簇。观察到的CD信号不是来自手性配体本身（它只会在UV（<250 nm）而不是可见波长区域内产生CD信号）。进一步比较了具有不同配体类型的手性金₃₈纳米簇。尽管Au ₃₈核本质上是手性的，但发现不同的手性配体在很大程度上影响了整个纳米团簇的手性响应。因此，配体保护的纳米团簇的手性响应既有金属核也有来自其周围的配体壳的贡献。这些光学活性纳米团簇在诸如手性传感和催化的未来应用中具有广阔的前景。