A Critical Review on the Catalytic Applications of Non-Metallic Gold Nanoclusters: Selective Oxidation, Hydrogenation, and Coupling Reactions

Title:A Critical Review on the Catalytic Applications of Non-Metallic Gold Nanoclusters: Selective Oxidation, Hydrogenation, and Coupling Reactions

Volume: 21 Issue: 6

Author(s): Zhimin Li, Hadi Abroshan, Chao Liu and Gao Li

Affiliation:

Keywords: Gold nanocluster, oxidation, hydrogenation, C-C coupling, DFT, size-specificity, ligand effects, doping effects.

Abstract: In recent decade, gold nanoclusters with atomic precision (Au_nL_m where L = ligand) have been demonstrated as a new and promising class of nanocatalysts. The Au_nL_m catalysts of different sizes possess unique crystal and electronic structures, thereby providing an excellent opportunity to correlate the intrinsic catalytic performance with the catalysts’ structure as well as to study mechanisms of chemical reactions catalyzed over gold nanoparticles. In this review, controlled synthesis of atomically precise gold nanoclusters and their thermal stabilities are explained. We demonstrate important roles played by the gold nanoclusters for catalytic reactions, including selective oxidation and hydrogenation as well as carbon-carbon coupling reactions. Tailoring of the catalysts’ functions is discussed in terms of size-specificity, ligand engineering (e.g., aromatic vs aliphatic), and doping effects (e.g., copper, silver, palladium, and platinum). The proposed reactions’ mechanisms and the structureactivity relationships at the atomic detail are presented.

Cite this article as:

Li Zhimin, Abroshan Hadi, Liu Chao and Li Gao, A Critical Review on the Catalytic Applications of Non-Metallic Gold Nanoclusters: Selective Oxidation, Hydrogenation, and Coupling Reactions, Current Organic Chemistry 2017; 21 (6) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1385272820666161020152707