Hydride-Doped Gold Superatom (Au₉H)²⁺: Synthesis, Structure, and Transformation

Abstract

Doping of a hydride (H^–) into an oblate-shaped gold cluster [Au₉(PPh₃)₈]³⁺ was observed for the first time by mass spectrometry and NMR spectroscopy. Density functional theory calculations for the product [Au₉H­(PPh₃)₈]²⁺ demonstrated that the (Au₉H)²⁺ core can be viewed as a nearly spherical superatom with a closed electronic shell. The hydride-doped superatom (Au₉H)²⁺ was successfully converted to the well-known superatom Au₁₁³⁺, providing a new atomically precise synthesis of Au clusters via a bottom-up approach