Optically active gold nanoclusters

In recent years, increasing attention has been paid for the construction of optically active nanomaterials. In particular, mono-layer-protected gold nanoclusters are attractive for such systems. To date, optically active gold nanoclusters have been prepared by using chiral adsorbates or surface modifiers. In general, two major explanations have been proposed to interpret the optical activity: The first assumes a chiral core as a result of lattice distortion caused by the adsorbate. The other involves an achiral core with chirality induced by a chiral adsorption pattern or by dissymmetric fields (vicinal effect) from the chiral adsorbates. This mini-review gives an outline of the syntheses and chiroptical properties of the chiral monolayer-protected gold nanoclusters on the basis of our recent work as well as the other groups' studies.