Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of the Electronic and Geometrical Structures of the Au32 Cluster

A heart of gold: The structure of the Au32− cluster has been elucidated by comparison of the results from photoelectron spectroscopy with those from theoretical calculations. Although DFT calculations suggest a high-symmetry hollow-cage structure (Ih, left) to be the lowest in energy at 0 K, the spectrum calculated for a low-symmetry (C1, right) distorted cage containing three Au atoms inside agrees best with the experimental results.