Thermodynamic-Driven Self-Assembly: Heterochiral Self-Sorting and Structural Reconfiguration in Gold(I)–Sulfido Cluster System

By employing chiral precursors, a new class of chiral gold­(I)–sulfido clusters with unique structures has been constructed. Interestingly, pure enantiomers of the precursors are found to self-assemble into chiral hexa- and decanuclear clusters sequentially, while a racemic mixture of them has resulted in heterochiral self-sorting of an achiral <i>meso</i> decanuclear cluster. Chirality has determined not only the symmetry and structures but also the photophysical behaviors of these clusters. The racemic mixture of decanuclear clusters undergoes rearrangement and heterochiral self-sorting to give a <i>meso</i> decanuclear cluster. The thermodynamic-driven heterochiral self-sorting of gold­(I) clusters provides a means to develop controlled self-assembly that may be of relevance to the understanding of chirality in nature.