Nanoparticle

Materials science

Nanoclusters

Computer science

Physical chemistry

Nanotechnology

Organic chemistry

Cluster (spacecraft)

Colloidal gold

Hybrid material

Surface modification

Nanomaterials

Chemistry

Programming language

Nanostructure

Covalent bond

Nanoscopic scale

Journal of the American Chemical Society

For decades, chemists have strived to mimic the intricate design and diverse functions of naturally occurring systems through the bioinspired synthesis of programmable inorganic nanomaterials. The development of thiol-capped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) has driven advancement in this area; however, although versatile and readily accessible, hybrid AuNPs are rarely atomically precise, which limits control over their surface topology and therefore the study of complex structure–function relationships. Here, we present a bottom-up approach to the systematic assembly of atomically precise hybrid nanoclusters employing a strategy that mimics the synthetic ease with which thiol-capped AuNPs are normally constructed, while producing well-defined covalent nanoscale assemblies with diverse surface topologies. For the first time, using a structurally characterized cluster-based organometallic building block, we demonstrate the systematic synthesis of nanoclusters with multivalent binding capabilities to complex protein targets.

An Organometallic Strategy for Assembling Atomically Precise Hybrid Nanomaterials