A coordination cage hosting ultrafine and highly catalytically active gold nanoparticles. Issue 2 (15th December 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hang, Xinxin; Wang, Shentang; Pang, Huan; Xu, Qiang
• Is Part Of: Chemical science. Volume 13:Issue 2(2022)
• Page Start: 461
• Page End: 468
• Publication Date: 2021-12-15
• Subjects: Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540.5
• DOI: 10.1039/d1sc05407d
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2041-6520

Abstract

Abstract : The size-controlled synthesis of Au NPs was achieved by using a coordination cage CIAC-108 as a support. The Au NPs encapsulated within the cavity of CIAC-108 show smaller size (∼1.3 nm) than the ones (∼4.7 nm) anchored on the surface of CIAC-108. Abstract : Ultrafine metal nanoparticles (MNPs) with size <2 nm are of great interest due to their superior catalytic capabilities. Herein, we report the size-controlled synthesis of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) by using a thiacalixarene-based coordination cage CIAC-108 as a confined host or stabilizer. The Au NPs encapsulated within the cavity of CIAC-108 (Au@CIAC-108) show smaller size (∼1.3 nm) than the ones (∼4.7 nm) anchored on the surface of CIAC-108 (Au/CIAC-108). The cage-embedded Au NPs can be used as a homogeneous catalyst in a mixture of methanol and dichloromethane while as a heterogeneous catalyst in methanol. The homogeneous catalyst Au@CIAC-108-homo exhibits significantly enhanced catalytic activities toward nitroarene reduction and organic dye decomposition, as compared with its larger counterpart Au/CIAC-108-homo and its heterogeneous counterpart Au@CIAC-108-hetero. More importantly, the as-prepared Au@CIAC-108-homo possesses remarkable stability and durability.