A Substrate-Selective Nanoreactor Made of Molecularly Imprinted Polymer Containing Catalytic Silver Nanoparticles

An original, substrate-selective nanoreactor is designed and The nanoreactor made of a 4-nitrophonel (NP)-imprinted polymer and Ag nanoparticles, can specifically recognize NP compared with its analogues 4-nitrophenyl acetate (NPA) and 2,6-dimethyl-4-nitrophenol (DNP). Under comparable conditions, this nanoreactor significantly accelerated the reduction of NP; however, much less acceleration is shown for its analogues. Unlike traditional Ag nanoreactors, which lack molecular recognition abilities, this unique nanoreactor is composed of molecularly imprinted networks, making substrate-selective catalysis feasible.