We plan to study the attachment of a cationic tetranuclear palladium II-based macrocyclic square onto a planar gold surface or a gold nanoparticle. To understand the possible mechanisms of attachment of inorganic molecular square to gold we will see if certain related salts can cause an induced aggregation of nanoparticles.The replacement of the surface-passivated citrate layer on the gold nanoparticles can be characterized by infrared spectroscopy and shifts in the surface plasmon resonance band. Consequently, if it can bond gold nanoparticles via electrostatic interactions, then it may be possible that the square can attach to a planar gold surface by a similar mechanism.Infrared spectra of the aggregated nanoparticles will be compared to those obtained using the attachment of molecular square on a planar gold surface. By comparing.infrared spectra it may be possible to determine by what mechanism the square is attaching to gold. / Department of Chemistry