Metal-organic nanosheets: a programmable two-dimensional platform for multistep catalysis

石墨烯等二维纳米材料在先进的电子、能源、分离和复合材料应用中具有巨大的潜力。然而，许多这些材料（例如氮化硼，二硫化钼和过渡金属二硫属化物）的简单化学组成意味着其组成的微小变化可能会破坏其二维结构，从而难以优化其化学，电子，光学和机械性能以用于许多应用。金属有机纳米片（MON）是一类新兴的石墨烯类二维纳米材料。MONs联合收割机以模块化的方式将有机化合物的多样性与金属离子的独特性质结合起来，从而允许系统地调整其性质。它们可以分散在溶剂中以形成稳定的悬浮液，从而暴露它们的表面官能团，使它们能够与溶液中的分子相互作用。它们非常高的表面积，容易调节的化学性质以及它们可以通过离心从反应溶剂中回收的容易性使得MONs成为用作催化剂的理想候选者。此外，MONS表面上呈现的官能团的周期性阵列为空间组织多个活性基团以共同催化反应创造了新的机会。在这个研究项目中，我们将开发MONs作为一个新的催化平台。我们将创建MON，在高浓度的反应溶剂中形成稳定的悬浮液，并且可以在明确定义的位置上用多个催化活性位点官能化。这将能够形成复杂的活性位点，以促进在较低温度下发生的反应，还将允许多个反应步骤的“一锅”催化，减少在纯化化合物时产生的废物。因此，开发MONs作为新的催化平台将使新产品的合成更加环保。

Two-dimensional nanomaterials such as graphene hold enormous potential for use in advanced electronics, energy, separation and composite materials applications. However, the simple chemical composition of many of these materials (e.g. boron nitride, molybdenum disulfide and transition metal dichalcogenides) mean small changes in their composition can disrupt their two-dimensional structure making it difficult to optimise their chemical, electronic, optical and mechanical properties performance for use in many applications. Metal-organic nanosheets (MONs) are an emerging class of graphene-like two-dimensional nanomaterials. MONs combine the diversity of organic compounds with the unique properties of metal ions in a modular way that allows their properties to be tuned systematically. They can be dispersed in solvents to create stable suspensions which exposes their surface functionalities allowing them to interact with molecules in solution. Their very high surface area, readily tunable chemistry and the ease with which they can be recovered from reaction solvents by centrifugation make MONs ideal candidates for use as catalysts. Moreover, the periodic array of functional groups presented on the surface of MONs creates new opportunities for spatially organising multiple active groups to work together to catalyse reactions. During this research project we will develop MONs as a new platform for catalysis. We will create MONs that form stable suspensions in reaction solvents at high concentrations and that can be functionalised with multiple catalytic active sites at well-defined positions. This will enable the formation of sophisticated active sites to facilitate reactions taking place at lower temperatures, It will also allow "one pot" catalysis of multiple reaction steps reducing the waste generated in purifying the compounds. The development of MONs as a new platform for catalysis will therefore enable the synthesis of new products in a more environmentally sustainable manner.