Simple phosphinate ligands access zinc clusters identified in the synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles.

ABSTRACT: The bottom-up synthesis of ligand-stabilized functional nanoparticles from molecular precursors is widely applied but is difficult to study mechanistically. Here we use ³¹P NMR spectroscopy to follow the trajectory of phosphinate ligands during the synthesis of a range of ligated zinc oxo clusters, containing 4, 6 and 11 zinc atoms. Using an organometallic route, the clusters interconvert rapidly and self-assemble in solution based on thermodynamic equilibria rather than nucleation kinetics. These clusters are also identified in situ during the synthesis of phosphinate-capped zinc oxide nanoparticles. Unexpectedly, the ligand is sequestered to a stable Zn₁₁ cluster during the majority of the synthesis and only becomes coordinated to the nanoparticle surface, in the fi

SUBMITTER: Pike SD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5065624 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature