In the past experimental as well as theoretical investigations have shown that the structure of metallic nanoclusters most often deviates significantly from those of the bulk. With the help of molecular dynamics calculations we demonstrate how the transition from bulk structured materials to nanostructured clusters might take place. In connection with such structural transitions one result is rather interesting: the occurrence of metastable cluster states. The conditions under which such metastable nanostructures might be possible and how their lifetime could be influenced are systematically investigated. How are the structure and the dynamics of nanoclusters changed when they transform from the metastable into the stable state? In order to answer this we calculated the structure factor and the generalized phonon density of states for the stable as well as for the metastable cluster state. (C) 2004 American Vacuum Society.