Robert L. Whetten Professor Office: L1-242 ES&T Phone: 404-894-8255 Fax: 404-894-7452 E-mail Robert L. Whetten The Whetten Research Group

B.S., 1980, Weber State University; M.S., 1982, Cornell University; Ph.D., 1984, Cornell University

FIDIPRO AWARD, June 2010;· ADVANCE Distinguished Lecturer (Kansas State Univ), 2008; 3éme Cyclé Lectureship (Switzerland), 2005; Alexander von Humboldt Senior Scientist Award, 1993; H. N. McCoy Research Award, 1990-91 (UCLA); Glenn T. Seaborg Research Award, 1990 (UCLA); Packard Foundation Fellowship, 1988; Sloan Foundation Fellowship, 1988; Presidential Young Investigator Award, 1987 (NSF); Dreyfus Distinguished New Faculty Award, 1985; Nobel Laureate Signature Award for Graduate Education, 1985 (ACS); National Science Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship, 1981-84

Research Interests

• Protected metallic clusters in molecular forms; molecular metallurgy
• Gas-phase metallic and ionic clusters in the gas phase; high-mass spectrometry
• Identification and isolation of selected giant cluster compounds
• Optical vibronic spectroscopy of large molecules, clusters, and cluster-complexes
• Structure, bonding, and surface chemistry of protected metallic clusters
• Solid-state chemistry & physics of molecular crystals formed from metallic clusters

Representative Publications

Structure and bonding in the ubiquitous icosahedral metallic gold cluster Au-144(SR)(60), O. Lopez-Acevedo, J. Akola, R. L. Whetten, H. Gronbeck, H. Hakkinen, J. Physical Chem. C, 2009, 113(13), 5035-5038.

Gold-thiolate complexes form a unique c(4 x 2) structure on Au(111), H. Gronbeck, H. Hakkinen, R. L. Whetten, J. Phys. Chem. C, 2008, 112(41), 15940-15942.

A unified view of ligand-protected gold clusters as superatom complexes, M. Walter, J. Akola, O. Lopez-Acevedo, P. D. Jadzinsky, G. Calero, C. J. Ackerson, R. L. Whetten, H. Gronbeck, H. Hakkinen, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA, 2008, 105(27), 9157-9162.

On the structure of thiolate-protected Au-25, J. Akola, M. Walter, R. L. Whetten, H. Hakkinen, H. Gronbeck, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2008, 130(12), 3756.

Nano-golden order, R. L. Whetten, R. Price, Science, 2007, 318(5849), 407-408.

Origin of magic stability of tiolated gold clusters: A case study on Au-25(SC6H13)(18), Y. Negishi, N. K. Chaki, Y. Shichibu, R. L. Whetten, T. Tsukuda, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2007, 129(37), 11322.

The colours of nanometric gold - Optical response functions of selected gold-cluster thiolates, R. B. Wyrwas, M. M. Alvarez, J. T. Khoury, R. C. Price, T. G. Schaaff, R. L. Whetten, Eur. Phys. J. D., 2007, 43(1-3), 91-95.

Raman spectroscopy of benzenethiolates on nanometer-scale gold clusters, R. C. Price, R. L. Whetten, J. Phys. Chem. B, 2006, 110(44), 22166-22171.

All-aromatic, nanometer-scale, gold-cluster thiolate complexes, R. C. Price, R. L. Whetten, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2005, 127(40), 13750-13751.

Adsorption of carbon monoxide on smaller gold-cluster anions in an atmospheric-pressure flow-reactor: temperature and humidity dependence, W. T. Wallace, R. B. Wyrwas, A. J. Leavitt, R. L. Whetten,Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2005, 7 (5): 930-937.

Scanning tunneling microscopy determination of single nanocrystal core sizes via correlation with mass spectrometry, T. P. Bigioni, T. G. Schaaff, R. B. Wyrwas, L. E. Harrell, R. L. Whetten, P. N. First, J. Phys. Chem. B, 2004, 108 (12): 3772-3776.

Oxygen Adsorption on Hydrated Gold Cluster Anions: Experiment and Theory, William T. Wallace, Richard B. Wyrwas, Robert L. Whetten, Roland Mitric, Vlasta Bonacic-Koutecky, J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2003), 125(27), 8408-8414.

Coadsorption of CO and O₂ on Selected Gold Clusters: Evidence for Efficient Room-Temperature CO₂ Generation, William T. Wallace, Robert L. Whetten, J. Am. Chem. Soc. (2002), 124(25), 7499-7505.

Transition from nanoparticle to molecular behavior: a femtosecond transient absorption study of a size-selected 28 atom gold cluster, Stephan Link, Mostafa A. El-Sayed, Gregory T. Schaaff, Robert L. Whetten, Chem. Phys. Letts. (2002), 356(3,4), 240-246.

Visible to Infrared Luminescence from a 28-Atom Gold Cluster, Stephan Link, Andrew Beeby, Simon FitzGerald, Mostafa A. El-Sayed, Gregory T. Schaaff, Robert L. Whetten, Robert L., J. Phys. Chem B (2002), 106(13), 3410-3415.

Metastability of gold-carbonyl cluster complexes, AuN(CO)M-, W. T. Wallace, Robert L. Whetten, Euro. Phys. J. D: Atomic, Molecular and Optical Physics, (2001), 16(1-3), 123-126.

Properties of a Ubiquitous 29 kDa Au:SR Cluster Compound, Gregory T. Schaaff, Marat N. Shafigullin, Joseph T. Khoury, Igor Vezmar, Robert L. Whetten, J. Phys. Chem. B (2001), 105(37), 8785-8796.

Low-temperature activation of molecular oxygen by gold clusters: a stoichiometric process correlated to electron affinity, B. E. Salisbury, W. T. Wallace, Robert L. Whetten, Chem. Phys. (2000), 262(1), 131-141.

Carbon monoxide adsorption on selected gold clusters. Highly size-dependent activity and saturation compositions, William T. Wallace, Robert L. Whetten, J. Phys. Chem. B (2000), 104(47), 10964-10968.