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 have intriguing properties, thus, they are attractive for catalysis. Especially, those NCs with identical size but different core (or surface) structure provide unique opportunities that allow the specific role of the core and the surface to be mapped out without complication by the size effect. Herein, we summarize recent work with isomeric Au-n NCs protected by ligands and isostructural NCs but with different surface ligands. The highlighted work includes catalysis by spherical and rod-shaped Au-25 (with different ligands), quasi-isomeric Au-28(SR)(20) with different R groups, structural isomers of Au-38(SR)(24) (with identical R) and Au38S2(SR)(20) with body-centred 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.