Thiol-Directed Synthesis of Highly Fluorescent Gold Clusters and Their Conversion into Stable Imaging Nanoprobes

Fluorescent gold clusters (FGCs) with tunable emission from blue to red and quantum yields in the range of 617?% have been synthesized by simple modification of the conditions used for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles, namely by replacing the stronger reducing agent with a controlled amount of thiol. Various functional FGCs with hydrodynamic diameters of 512 nm have been successfully synthesized and used as cell labels. The results of our investigations strongly indicate that FGCs composed of Au0 are more stable imaging probes than commonly reported red/NIR-emitting FGCs with a composition of Au0/AuI, as this combination rapidly transforms into nonfluorescent large clusters on exposure to light. The FGC-based nanoprobes reported herein exhibit stable fluorescence upon continuous light exposure and can be used as imaging probes with low cytotoxicity.