For many applications of well-defined gold nanoclusters, it's desirable to understand their structural evolution behavior under working conditions with molecular precision. Here we report the first systematic investigation on the size transformation product of Au22(SG)18 nanocluster under representative working conditions and highlight the surface effect on the transformation dynamics. Under thermal and aerobic conditions, the con-secutive and pH dependent transformation from Au22 to both well-defined clusters and small Au(I)SR species were identified by the ESI-MS and UV-vis spectroscopy. By introducing perturbation on the Au22 surface, sig-nificant changes in the activation parameters were determined from the kinetic study of the Au22 transfor-mation. This indicates the sensitivity of nanocluster transformation pathway the cluster surface. The systemat-ic study on cluster transformation and sensitivity of cluster transformation to the surface revealed herein have significant implications for future attempts to design gold nanoparticles with adaptation to the working envi-ronment and the regeneration of active nanoparticles.

中文翻译：

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Au22(SG)18纳米团簇的尺寸转变及其表面敏感动力学

对于定义明确的金纳米团簇的许多应用，需要以分子精度了解它们在工作条件下的结构演化行为。在这里，我们报告了在代表性工作条件下对 Au22(SG)18 纳米团簇的尺寸转变产物的首次系统研究，并强调了表面对转变动力学的影响。在热和有氧条件下，通过 ESI-MS 和 UV-vis 光谱确定了从 Au22 到明确定义的簇和小的 Au(I)SR 物种的连续和 pH 依赖性转变。通过在 Au22 表面引入扰动，从 Au22 转化的动力学研究中确定了活化参数的显着变化。这表明纳米团簇转化途径对团簇表面的敏感性。