A homoleptic alkynyl-protected [Ag9Cu6(tBuCC)12]+ superatom with free electrons: synthesis, structure analysis, and different properties compared with the Au7Ag8 cluster in the M15+ series

We report the first homoleptic alkynyl-protected Ag 9 Cu 6 superatom, and its structural differences from Au 7 Ag 8 cluster lead to different optical features and stability, where the structure–property correlation is revealed by DFT calculations.