Monoarsine-protected icosahedral cluster [Au₁₃(AsPh₃)₈Cl₄]⁺: comparative studies on ligand effect and surface reactivity with its stibine analogue

Ligand shells of gold nanoclusters play important roles in regulating their molecular and electronic structures. However, the similar but distinct impacts of the homologous analogues of the protecting ligands remain elusive. The C-2v symmetric monoarsine-protected cluster [Au-13(AsPh3)(8)Cl-4](+) (Au13As8) was facilely prepared by direct reduction of (Ph3As)AuCl with NaBH4. This cluster is isostructural with its previously reported stibine analogue [Au-13(SbPh3)(8)Cl-4](+) (Au13Sb8), enabling a comparative study between them. Au13As8 exhibits a blue-shifted electronic absorption band, and this is probably related to the stronger p-back donation interactions between the Au-13 core and AsPh3 ligands, which destabilize its superatomic 1P and 1D orbitals. In comparison to the thermodynamically less stable Au13Sb8, Au13As8 achieves a better trade-off between catalytic stability and activity, as demonstrated by its excellent catalytic performance towards the aldehyde-alkyne-amine (A(3)) coupling reaction. Moreover, the ligand exchange reactions between Au13As8 with phosphines, as exemplified by PPh3 and Ph2P(CH2)(2)PPh2, suggest that Au13As8 may be a good precursor cluster for further cluster preparation through the "cluster-to-cluster" route.