Cu nanorods and nanospheres and their excellent catalytic activity in chernoselective reduction of nitrobenzenes

Highly selective chemical route for the hydrothermal synthesis of Cu-0 nanorods and nanospheres using a long chain saturated fatty acid, viz. lauric acid as template is reported. Our experimental results revealed Cu nanorods are of ca. 14 nm diameters and 100-235 nm length, whereas the nanospheres are of dimensions 2-15 nm diameter. Cu nanospheres show much enhanced catalytic activity over the nanorods for the chemoselective reduction of 4-nitrophenol and 5-nitroisophthalic acid to respective substituted anilines in one pot at room temperature, suggesting the role of particle size and shape in catalytic reduction. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.