Exposing the Dynamics and Energetics of the N-Heterocyclic Carbene–Nanocrystal Interface

Abstract

N-Heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) are becoming increasingly popular ligand frameworks for nanocrystal surfaces; however, as of yet the nature of the NHC-nanocrystal interface remains unexplored across different material types. Here we report a facile synthetic route to NHC-stabilized metal and metal chalcogenide nanocrystals. It was observed that NHC-Ag nanocrystals are colloidally stable, but much less so than the corresponding NHC-AgE analogues. Comprehensive NMR studies suggest a dynamic NHC-nanocrystal interface for both NHC-Ag and NHC-AgS; however, density functional theory calculations reveal a much stronger binding affinity of the NHC ligands to AgS compared with Ag nanocrystals, which explains the superior colloidal stability of the metal chalcogenides. This offers new insight into the surface chemistry of neutral L-type carbenes in colloidal nanocrystal chemistry.

Sensitizing Singlet Fission with Perovskite Nanocrystals

“…1 H NMR spectroscopy was performed on a Bruker Avance III 400 MHz instrument. Spectra were collected at 25 °C using a standard proton pulse (zg), 32 scans, and 30 s delay between scans to complete relaxation between pulses . NC/ligand samples were dried under vacuum, resuspended in 700 μL CDCl 3 , and transferred to J.…”

One-step synthesis and XPS investigations of chiral NHC–Au(0)/Au(i) nanoparticles

“…XPS was utilized to study the NHC-AuNPs, as it has already been proven to be a powerful tool in the characterization of NHC-coated AuNPs whereby the C 1s and N 1s signals are used to evidence the presence of the NHC ligand on AuNPs. 10,16,[19][20][21][22][23] In addition to the C 1s and N 1s signals, we also utilized information arising from the Au 4f peaks to investigate Au oxidation states.…”

Transition metal-based catalysts for the electrochemical CO2reduction: from atoms and molecules to nanostructured materials

“…Moreover, a spectroscopic investigation of the spatial orientation and coordination mode of NHC moieties on different metallic surfaces will provide useful insights to modulate the reactivity of the organic/inorganic interface towards CO 2 RR. [458][459][460][461][462]…”