Thiolmetal

Thiolmetal refers to compounds and materials in which thiol groups or thiolate ligands coordinate to metal centers. The term encompasses metal-thiolate complexes, metal-thiolate clusters, and thiol-functionalized surfaces in coordination chemistry and materials science.

Thiols (R-SH) bind to metals through the sulfur atom. When a thiol is deprotonated to a thiolate (RS−), it often forms stronger bonds and can bridge between multiple metal centers. Thiolate ligands are soft donors that stabilize various oxidation states and can induce characteristic electronic and structural properties in the resulting complexes. Binding modes can be terminal, bridging, or chelating, and can influence reactivity, catalysis, and stability.

Common metals that form thiolmetal systems include gold, silver, copper, palladium, platinum, and many transition metals. Gold is particularly well known for forming self-assembled monolayers via Au–SR bonds, enabling surface functionalization and nanopatterning. Thiolate-protected metal clusters and nanoparticles exhibit distinctive optical and catalytic properties, arising from the protective ligand shells and metal–ligand interactions.

Synthesis typically involves reacting a metal precursor with a thiol-containing ligand under controlled conditions to yield the desired thiolate complex or cluster. Thiol–metal chemistry can be sensitive to air and oxidation, as thiols readily form disulfides and thiolate ligands can be displaced under certain conditions.

In nature and technology, thiolmetal interactions are important in biology, where cysteine residues coordinate metals in metalloproteins and metal storage proteins, and in materials science, where thiol ligands enable surface functionalization, catalysis, sensing, and stabilization of nanoscale metal systems.