Chiral metal nanoparticles encapsulated by a chiral phosphine cavitand with the tetrakis-BINAP moiety: their remarkable stability toward ligand exchange and thermal racemization.

A chiral phosphine cavitand 1 induced the formation of chiral metal (Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Pt, and Au) nanoparticles (NPs). The ligand 1 of the chiral metal NPs prevents both thermal racemization and ligand exchange with a thiol, but the organic molecules can react with the metal surfaces. In contrast to the 1-protected Au NPs, the BINAP-protected Au NPs easily undergo ligand exchange and thermal racemization with aggregation.

Enantioselective synthesis of endohedral metallofullerenes.

Endohedral metallofullerenes are promising materials in biomedical and material sciences. In particular, they are of interest as agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), photovoltaic devices, and semimetallic components. The synthesis of chiral endofullerenes represents one step further in the potential use of these carbon allotropes; however, this step has not been addressed so far.