This paper described a facile method for preparation of gold nanoparticles with high efficient SERS activity within short reaction time in the presence of an environmentally benign and low-cost reagent named inositol hexaphosphate (IP6). IP6 acted as a tunable cross-linker to obtain a suitable separation (about 2 nm) between the neighboring particles for certain Surface plasmons by adjusting the dosages Of IP6. When the molar ratio of Au to IP6 was 10:1, gold particles presented in nano-pearl-necklace pattern, demonstrating the high enhancement factor (>10(7)) for 2-melcaptopyridine (2-Mpy) Raman scattering and high stability (>2 months). (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.