Chemoselective Aerobic Cross-Dehydrogenative Coupling of Terminal Alkynes with Hydrosilanes by a Nanoporous Gold Catalyst.

Aerobic cross-dehydrogenative coupling between terminal alkynes and hydrosilanes occurred in the presence of nanoporous gold catalyst under O atmosphere. A variety of alkynylsilanes were synthesized in good-to-high yields and the catalyst was easily recovered and reused many times. Furthermore, the chemoselective direct silyl protection of terminal acetylenes of alkynols over the hydroxyl groups was achieved with this catalytic system.

Cerium Oxide Nanorods with Unprecedented Low-Temperature Oxygen Storage Capacity.

Ultrafine cerium oxide nanorods are produced from rapidly liquid quenched Ce-Al alloy precursors by a corrosion method through the selective leaching of Al and the oxidation of Ce in an alkaline medium under mild conditions. The obtained nanorods, having 5-7 nm diameter, exhibit unprecedented low-temperature oxygen-storage capacity (OSC) performance.

Highly efficient heterogeneous aerobic cross-dehydrogenative coupling via C-H functionalization of tertiary amines using a nanoporous gold skeleton catalyst.

We report for the first time that zero-valent nanoporous gold (AuNPore) is a robust and green heterogeneous catalyst for α-C-H functionalization of various tertiary amines. AuNPore combines with molecular oxygen at 80 °C or tert-butyl hydrogen peroxide at room temperature and catalyses the heterogeneous cross-dehydrogenative coupling (CDC) reaction efficiently to afford the corresponding C-C and C-heteroatom coupling products in good to excellent yields with excellent reusability.

Ultrafine sodium titanate nanowires with extraordinary Sr ion-exchange properties.

Ultrafine sodium titanate nanowires are produced from TiAl alloy precursors via a nonthermal process where Al leaching and Ti oxidation occur simultaneously in an alkaline medium. The obtained nanowires demonstrate a layered crystal structure with a diameter of a few nanometers and exhibit remarkable Sr ion-exchange properties.

Nanostructured Zr-Pd metallic glass thin film for biochemical applications.

Zr-Pd metallic glassy thin films with a hierarchical nano-scale structure, produced by magnetron sputtering of the Zr and Pd powder mixture, demonstrate a unique combination of physical and biochemical properties. Thermal stability of the nano-structured glassy samples, their resistance to oxidation in dry air and phase transformation behavior are discussed in the present work. These binary alloy samples also show exceptionally high corrosion resistance and spontaneous passivation in a simulated body fluid.

The synergistic effect of nanoporous AuPd alloy catalysts on highly chemoselective 1,4-hydrosilylation of conjugated cyclic enones.

The nanoporous AuPd (AuPdNPore) alloy catalyst showed superior chemoselectivity and high catalytic activity for the direct 1,4-hydrosilylation of the conjugated cyclic enones with hydrosilane in comparison with the monometallic nanoporous Au and Pd catalysts. The enhanced catalytic properties of AuPdNPore arise mainly from the nanoporous structure and the synergistic effect of the AuPd alloy.

Remarkable catalytic property of nanoporous gold on activation of diborons for direct diboration of alkynes.

A novel catalytic property of nanoporous gold for activation of bis(pinacolato)diboron has been reported that allows the direct diboration of alkynes to proceed sufficiently in a heterogeneous process. The experimental results revealed that the nanoporous gold catalyst is able to cleave the B-B bond of bis(pinacolato)diboron without using any additives.

Nanoporous gold catalyst for highly selective semihydrogenation of alkynes: remarkable effect of amine additives.

We report for the first time the highly selective semihydrogenation of alkynes using the unsupported nanoporous gold (AuNPore) as a catalyst and organosilanes with water as a hydrogen source. Under the optimized reaction conditions, the present semihydrogenation of various terminal- and internal-alkynes affords the corresponding alkenes in high chemical yields and excellent Z-selectivity without any over-reduced alkanes. The use of DMF as solvent, which generates amines in situ, or pyridine as an additive is crucial to suppress the association of hydrogen atoms on AuNPore to form H(2) gas, which is unable to reduce alkynes on the unsupported gold catalysts.

Atomic origins of the high catalytic activity of nanoporous gold.

Distinct from inert bulk gold, nanoparticulate gold has been found to possess remarkable catalytic activity towards oxidation reactions. The catalytic performance of nanoparticulate gold strongly depends on size and support, and catalytic activity usually cannot be observed at characteristic sizes larger than 5 nm. Interestingly, significant catalytic activity can be retained in dealloyed nanoporous gold (NPG) even when its feature lengths are larger than 30 nm.