Encagement of Gold Nanoclusters in Crosslinked Resorcinarene Shells

Monolayers of resorcinarene tetraene 1 on gold nanoclusters could be crosslinked by olefin metathesis into a nondesorptive shell. Crosslinking conditions were optimized by monitoring olefin metathesis of 1 by 1 H NMR spectroscopy and obtaining empirical rate constants. Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) was found to be a useful tool for evaluating the enhanced stability of the encaged nanoparticles; resorcinarene-encapsulated nanoparticles which were not subjected to olefin metathesis did not survive GPC analysis, whereas nanoparticles in crosslinked shells were found to be stable.