For steel nanoclusters with the “cluster of clusters” intramolecular evolution sample, most efforts have been made in direction of the vertical superposition of icosahedral nanobuilding blocks (e.g., from mono-icosahedral Au13 to bi-icosahedral Au25 and tri-icosahedral Au37), whereas the horizontal growth of those rod-shaped multi-icosahedral aggregates was largely uncared for. We herein report the horizontal growth of the biicosahedral M25 cluster framework, yielding an Au19Ag12(S-Adm)6(DPPM)6Cl7 nanocluster that comprises an Au13Ag12 kernel and 6 Au1(DPPM)1(S-Adm)1 peripheral wings. The structural dedication of Au19Ag12(S-Adm)6(DPPM)6Cl7 resolved a decades-long query for rod-shaped multi-icosahedral aggregates: the way to load bidentate phosphine and hulking thiol ligands onto the nanocluster framework? The structural comparability between Au19Ag12(S-Adm)6(DPPM)6Cl7 and beforehand reported Au13Ag12(PPh3)10Cl8 or Au13Ag12(SR)5(PPh3)10Cl2 rationalized the distinctive packing of Au1(DPPM)1(S-Adm)1 motif constructions on the floor of the previous nanocluster. General, this work presents the horizontal growth of rod-shaped multi-icosahedral nanoclusters, which supplies new insights into the preparation of novel icosahedron-based aggregates with each vertically and horizontally rising extensions.
