Poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) (PVP) of varying molecular weight (M w = 40-360 kDa) were employed to stabilize gold nanoclusters of varying size. The resulting Au:PVP clusters were subsequently used as catalysts for a kinetic study on the sized-dependent aerobic oxidation of 1-indanol, which was monitored by time-resolved in situ infrared spectroscopy. The obtained results suggest that the catalytic behaviour is intimately correlated to the size of the clusters, which in turn depends on the molecular weight of the PVPs. The highest catalytic activity was observed for clusters with a core size of ~7 nm, and the size of the cluster should increase with the molecular weight of the polymer in order to maintain optimal catalytic activity. Studies on the electronic and colloid structure of these clusters revealed that the negative charge density on the cluster surface also strongly depends on the molecular weight of the stabilizing polymers.

The bowl‐shaped aluminum alkoxide complexes bearing N2O2 bis(phenolate)‐amine ligands having different side arms as pyridine (1), dimethyl amine (2), and diethyl amine (3) were shown to be highly efficient and well behaved in the homopolymerization and copolymerization of l‐lactide (LA) and ε‐caprolactone (ε‐CL) at 100 °C. The rates of copolymerization are similar for Complexes 1–3 where nearly full conversions were achieved in 60 h for [LA]:[CL]:[Al] ratio of 50:50:1. The minor adjustment of the side arms of the Catalysts 1–3 gave profound differences in the LA/ε‐CL copolymer sequences where tapered, gradient, and highly random structures were obtained in one system, respectively. The chelation of LA to Al metal after ring‐opening process and suitable steric hindrance of the side arms were believed to participate and saturate the aluminum metal centers giving different copolymer structures. The random LA/ε‐CL copolymer structure was confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance and differential scanning calorimetry analysis. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019, 57, 1635–1644

Aerobic oxidative homocoupling of arylboronic acid under acidic aqueous conditions (pH 4.0) using bimetallic Au/Pd alloy nanoclusters stabilized by chitosan has been investigated. It was found that a Au0.81Pd0.19 catalyst (3.1 ± 0.8 nm) exhibited superior catalytic activities as compared to monometallic Au (2.3 ± 0.3 nm) and other series of bimetallic nanoclusters, giving the corresponding biaryls in nearly quantitative yield.

Interface modification of hydroxyapatite-supported nanogold by fluoride ion improved the activity of the catalyst toward aerobic homocoupling of phenylboronic acid. In the aerobic homocoupling reaction of PhBF3K catalyzed by hydroxyapatite-supported gold nanoclusters (Au:HAP), a study on the reactivity and reusability of the Au:HAP catalyst showed an unusual yield profile for the reaction. Intensive characterization of the catalyst by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopic analysis exhibited that the structure of the metal oxide support undergoes transformation from HAP to fluorapatite (FAP) and finally to calcium fluoride (CaF2) during the course of these cycles of homocoupling of PhBF3K. Investigations of the interactions of Au:HAP with PhBF3K and of the fluoride ion-induced structural changes in both the support and the AuNCs, indicating that partially fluoride-substituted HAP (F-HAP) is the optimal support for the homocoupling of PhB­(OH)2. This is effective both as a stabilizer for AuNCs through the phosphate moiety and in activation of C–B bond transmetalation through B–F interactions. The results strongly suggest that fine-tuning of the structure of the interface between metal clusters and their support (namely, surface modification) might be important in developing chemo-selective catalysts.

Tris(2-hydroxyphenyl)triazasumanene ((A)-(+)-1), a bowl-shaped molecule, which possesses 2-(2′-hydroxyphenyl)pyridine moieties, was successfully synthesised.