Two‐Phase Synthesis of Small Thiolate‐Protected Au15 and Au18 Nanoclusters

A one-pot two-phase method for the direct synthesis of small Au (Au15 and Au18) nanoclusters (NCs) of high purity is developed. A mild reductant is combined with two equilibria (i.e., equilibrium partition and aggregation–dissociation equilibrium) to provide a constant reaction environment for the formation of monodisperse small Au NCs. The pH sensitivity of the aggregation–dissociation equilibrium is used to tailor the cluster size. As a service to our authors and readers, this journal provides supporting information supplied by the authors. Such materials are peer reviewed and may be re-organized for online delivery, but are not copy-edited or typeset. Technical support issues arising from supporting information (other than missing files) should be addressed to the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.