Figure 5: The structural decomposition of Au40(SR)24.
(a) The decomposition of Au40(SR)24 cluster into nine ligands and an Au core with two shells. (b) The decomposition of inner shell of the Au core into two fused tetrahedral Au4 elementary blocks, each block, when separated, being in the T9 valence state. (c) The decomposition of the outer shell of the Au core into six fused tetrahedral Au4 elementary blocks in a loop, each block, when separated, being in the T9 valence state. Colour code: Au—magenta (bottom flavour) and dark yellow (middle flavour); S—dark green. The R groups are omitted for clarity.
