Preparation and Reaction of Naked Metal Clusters for Catalysis and Genetic Materials

Metal clusters that contain a small number of atoms usually present unique properties with dramatic dependence on their sizes, geometric structures, and compositions. The studies of naked metal clusters are devoted to develop new catalysts and functional materials of atomic precision, and enable to improve the fundamental theory of structure chemistry and to understand the basic reactions and properties bridging the gap between atoms and bulk materials. In particular, some interesting superatom clusters have received reasonable research interest indicative of materials gene of clusters. Here in this review, we simply summarize the preparation, stability, and reactivity of naked metal clusters with a few examples displayed. Hopefully it serves as a modest spur to stimulate more interest of related investigations in this field.