Atomically Tailored Gold Nanoclusters for Catalytic Application

Recent advances in the synthetic chemistry of atomically precise metal nanoclusters (NCs) have significantly broadened the accessible sizes and structures. Such particles are well defined and possess intriguing properties, thus, they are highly attractive for catalysis. Especially, those NCs with identical size but different core (or surface) structure provide unique opportunities that allow one to map out the specific role of the core and the surface without complication by the size effect. In this minireview, we summarize recent works with isomeric Aun NCs protected by ligands and isostructural ones but with different surface ligands. The highlighted works include catalysis by spherical and rod‐shaped Au25 (with different ligands), quasi‐isomeric Au28(SR)20 with different R groups, structural isomers of Au38(SR)24 (with identical R) and Au38S2(SR)20 with body‐centered cubic (bcc) structure, and isostructural [Au38L20(PPh3)4]2+ (different L). These isomeric and/or isostructural NCs have provided valuable insights into the respective roles of the kernel, surface staples, and the type of ligands on catalysis. Future studies will lead to fundamental advances and development of tailor‐made catalysts.

from A via a.sfakia on Inoreader http://bit.ly/2FsuU0n