An Atomically Precise Au10 Ag2 Nanocluster with Red-Near-IR Dual Emission

A red-near-IR dual-emissive nanocluster with the composition [Au10 Ag2 (2-py-C≡C)3 (dppy)6 ](BF4 )5 (1; 2-py-C≡C is 2-pyridylethynyl, dppy=2-pyridyldiphenylphosphine) has been synthesized. Single-crystal X-ray structural analysis reveals that 1 has a trigonal bipyramidal Au10 Ag2 core that contains a planar Au4 (2-py-C≡C)3 unit sandwiched by two Au3 Ag(dppy)3 motifs. Cluster 1 shows intense red-NIR dual emission in solution. The visible emission originates from metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT) from silver atoms to phosphine ligands in the Au3 Ag(dppy)3 motifs, and the intense NIR emission is associated with the participation of 2-pyridylethynyl in the frontier orbitals of the cluster, which is confirmed by a time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT) calculation.