A Homoleptic Alkynyl-Protected Au(I)9-Ag(I)9 Cluster: Structure Analysis, Optical Properties, and Catalytic Implications

Graphical We report a novel homoleptic alkynyl-protected Au(I)9-Ag(I)9 cluster, which features an intriguing ichthyomorphic assembled core structure. It shows distinct absorbance feature and luminescence properties in solution and in the solid state. Interestingly, it has excellent catalytic performance in both the hydrogen evolution reaction and the reduction of 4-nitrophenol. We report the structure analysis, optical property, and catalytic implications of homoleptic alkynyl-protected Au(I)-Ag(I) nanocluster, namely Au 9 Ag 9 (C≡CAr F ) 18 (abbreviated as Au9 Ag9 hereafter). Single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis disclosed that, the core of Au 9 Ag 9 cluster features intriguing ichthyomorphic assembled structure driven by metallophilic interactions and Au-acetylide linkages. The Au 9 Ag 9 nanocluster is fluorescent in both solution and solid state, and it has much higher quantum yield in solid state. In the electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) test, Au 9 Ag 9 nanocluster exhibits a favorable overpotential of 274 mV at 10 mA cm −2 with a Tafel slope of 99 mV dec −1 , which markedly surpass than the [Au(C≡C-Ar F )] f and [Ag(C≡C-Ar F )] f control samples. Furthermore, Au 9 Ag 9 nanocluster shows much higher activity than the other two to catalyze the reduction of 4-nitrophenol.