Coinage metal nanoclusters: synthesis, structure and reactivity

金属催化剂在数十亿美元的许多工业和精细化学品的生产中发挥着重要作用，这些化学品用于广泛的应用，包括药品，杀虫剂和聚合物。尽管金属催化反应的重要性，这种过程的分子细节仍然知之甚少。突破性的研究强调，以前认为由离散金属催化剂催化的反应实际上是由金属纳米簇催化的。该项目涉及应用先进的质谱和计算方法来探索铜，银和金纳米团簇的形成和反应性。关键反应中间体的鉴定将为下一代催化剂的设计提供信息。

Metal catalysts play important roles in the multi-billion dollar production of many industrial and fine chemicals used in wide-ranging applications including pharmaceuticals, insecticides and polymers. Despite the importance of metal catalysed reactions, the molecular details of such processes remain poorly understood. Breakthrough studies highlight that reactions previously thought to be catalysed by discrete metal catalysts are in fact catalysed by metal nanoclusters. This project involves the application of advanced mass spectrometric and computational methods to explore the formation and reactivity of copper, silver and gold nanoclusters. Identification of key reactive intermediates will inform the design of next generation catalysts.