Carbene Ligands in Surface Chemistry: From Stabilization of Discrete Elemental Allotropes to Modification of Nanoscale and Bulk Substrates

Direct Synthesis of N‐Heterocyclic Carbene‐Stabilized Copper Nanoparticles from an N‐Heterocyclic Carbene–Borane

“…N‐heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) are considered to be a versatile family of compounds in modern chemistry, and accordingly they have attracted attention in various fields since the early 1990s . The taming of these compounds has unlocked a wide range of new applications from academia to industry, in organometallic chemistry, organocatalysis, surface chemistry, and nanoparticles synthesis . Although metallic nanoparticles (NPs) have a promising range of applications, depending on the physical and chemical properties of the metal, examples of NHC‐stabilized nanoparticles are still limited to few metals (Scheme , left) .…”

“… Left: Metal(loid) NPs stabilized by NHC . Right: proposed synthetic pathway using NHC–BH 3 adducts for direct formation of Cu NPs stabilized by NHC.…”

Knight Shift in 13C NMR Resonances Confirms the Coordination of N‐Heterocyclic Carbene Ligands to Water‐Soluble Palladium Nanoparticles

“…[3,6] Solid-state NMR spectroscopy has emerged as apowerful technique in these studies. [9] However,the fine details of NHC ligand binding to PdNP surfaces remain limited [1,10] even though remarkable results have been obtained in enantioselective catalysis. [9] However,the fine details of NHC ligand binding to PdNP surfaces remain limited [1,10] even though remarkable results have been obtained in enantioselective catalysis.…”

Ultra‐small sugar‐substituted N‐heterocyclic carbene‐protected palladium nanoparticles and catalytic activity

“…Such metal NPs are usually stabilized with ligands including phosphines, amines, thiols and thioethers . The neutral, electron‐rich N‐heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) are an emerging class of protected anchor for metal NPs due to their strong σ‐donation, since Arduengo et al . reported the isolation of free NHCs in 1991 .…”

“…Most recently, NHCs were used as alternative anchors for metal (including Au, Pd, Pt, Ru, Ag, etc.) surface modifications and so provided many notable properties, which might make them surpass thiol‐based systems . Just a few examples of NHC‐protected Pd NPs are reported in the literature, and the exchange strategy is an outstanding method because it employs preformed Pd NPs with known shapes and sizes .…”