Lecture – Tatsuya Tsukuda

Gold clusters protected by organic ligands, stabilized by polymer, and immobilized by solid supports have provided ideal platforms to study the correlation between various structure parameters and catalytic properties. This talk will introduce precision synthesis and structural characterization of Au clusters and discuss how the catalytic performances are affected by key structural parameters such as size, doping, and surface modification. These fundamental studies will establish a guiding principle to design and optimize the catalytic properties of Au-based clusters. The topic includes the following recent examples:

1. Photocatalysis by phosphine-protected MAu₁₂ (M = Au, Pd, Rh, Ir, Pt) ^{[1, 2]}.
2. Electrocatalysis by N-heterocyclic carbene-protected Au₁₁ ^[3] and Au₂₄ ^[4].
3. Alcohol oxidation by poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone)-stabilized Au₂₄ ^[5], Au₃₈ ^[6] and Au₂₃Pd₁ ^[7].
4. Alcohol oxidation by Au₂₅ supported on double metal hydroxide ^[8], partially thiolated Au₂₅ anchored on carbon ^[9], and partially thiolated Au_n (n = 25, 102) on layered double hydroxide ^[10].

References:

[1] ChemElectroChem. 11, e202300669 (2024). [2] Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. 61, e202207290 (2022). [3] Nature Chem. 11, 419–425 (2019). [4] J. Am. Chem. Soc. 144, 9000–9006 (2022). [5] JACS Au 1, 660–668 (2021). [6] ACS Catal. 12, 6550–6558 (2022). [7] ACS Nano 16, 16932–16940 (2022). [8] Nanoscale 14, 3031–3039 (2022). [9] ACS Catal. 13, 3263–3271 (2023). [10] ACS Catal. 13, 16179–16187 (2023).