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Arylation of gold holds paramount importance in the domain of organometallic chemistry; however, the exploration of arylgold nanoclusters remains in its infancy primarily due to the synthetic challenge. Here, we present a facile and effective arylation strategy to directly synthesize two arylgold nanoclusters (Au44a and Au44b), by using tetraarylborates, capable of transferring aryl fragments to metal centers. X-ray crystallography reveals that both Au44 nanoclusters contain an Au44 kernel co-protected by six aryl groups, two tetrahydrothiophene, and 16 alkynyl-ether ligands, the latter is generated in situ through Williamson ether reaction during the assembly processes. Notably, Au44 nanoclusters exhibit near-infrared (NIR) phosphorescence (λmax = 958 nm) and microsecond radiative relaxation at ambient condition, which is a thermal-controlled single/dual-channel phosphorescent emission revealed by temperature-dependent NIR, time-resolved emission, and femtosecond/nanosecond transition absorption spectra. This work represents a breakthrough in using aryl as protective ligands for the construction of gold nanoclusters, which is poised to have a transformative impact on organometallic nanoclusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which reported an all-alkynyl-protected gold nanocluster, Au20, showing a prolate Au12 tri-octahedral kernel surrounded by two Au2(CZ-PrA) Au3 dimers, four Au(CZ-PrA) Au2 monomers, and two CZ-PrA- bridges. Topics include X-ray crystal structure of Au Au20, dual emission and excitation-state dynamic of Au20, and dual emission (DE) response to multiple environment parameters.