-SR removal or -R removal? A mechanistic revisit on the puzzle of ligand etching of Au(SR) nanoclusters during electrocatalysis.

Accurate identification of active sites is highly desirable for elucidation of the reaction mechanism and development of efficient catalysts. Despite the promising catalytic performance of thiolated metal nanoclusters (NCs), their actual catalytic sites remain elusive. Traditional first-principles calculations and experimental observations suggested dealkylated S and dethiolated metal, respectively, to be the active centers.

Electrochemical CO reduction catalyzed by atomically precise alkynyl-protected AuAg, AgCu, and AuAgCu nanoclusters: probing the effect of multi-metal core on selectivity.

Doping metal nanoclusters (NCs) with another metal usually leads to superior catalytic performance toward CO reduction reaction (CORR), yet elucidating the metal core effect is still challenging. Herein, we report the systematic study of atomically precise alkynyl-protected AuAg, AgCu, and AuAgCu NCs toward CORR. AuAgCu prepared by a site-specific metal exchange approach from AgCu is the first case of trimetallic superatom with full-alkynyl protection.