Supported Rhodium Catalysts for Ammonia–Borane Hydrolysis: Dependence of the Catalytic Activity on the Highest Occupied State of the Single Rhodium Atoms

Supported metal nanocrystals have exhibited remarkable catalytic performance in hydrogen generation reactions, which is influenced and even determined by their supports. Accordingly, it is of fundamental importance to determine the direct relationship between catalytic performance and metal–support interactions. Herein, we provide a quantitative profile for exploring metal–support interactions by considering the highest occupied state in single‐atom catalysts. The catalyst studied consisted of isolated Rh atoms dispersed on the surface of VO₂ nanorods. It was observed that the activation energy of ammonia–borane hydrolysis changed when the substrate underwent a phase transition. Mechanistic studies indicate that the catalytic performance depended directly on the highest occupied state of the single Rh atoms, which was determined by the band structure of the substrates. Other metal catalysts, even with non‐noble metals, that exhibited significant catalytic activity towards NH₃BH₃ hydrolysis were rationally designed by adjusting their highest occupied states.     

Single‐Atom Iron Catalysts on Overhang‐Eave Carbon Cages for High‐Performance Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Single‐atom catalysts have drawn great attention, especially in electrocatalysis. However, most of previous works focus on the enhanced catalytic properties via improving metal loading. Engineering morphologies of catalysts to facilitate mass transport through catalyst layers, thus increasing the utilization of each active site, is regarded as an appealing way for enhanced performance. Herein, we design an overhang‐eave structure decorated with isolated single‐atom iron sites via a silica‐mediated MOF‐templated approach for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysis. This catalyst demonstrates superior ORR performance in both alkaline and acidic electrolytes, comparable to the state‐of‐the‐art Pt/C catalyst and superior to most precious‐metal‐free catalysts reported to date. This activity originates from its edge‐rich structure, having more three‐phase boundaries with enhanced mass transport of reactants to accessible single‐atom iron sites (increasing the utilization of active sites), which verifies the practicability of such a synthetic approach.     

Maximizing the Number of Interfacial Sites in Single‐Atom Catalysts for the Highly Selective,Solvent‐Free Oxidation of Primary Alcohols

The solvent‐free selective oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes with molecular oxygen is highly attractive yet challenging. Interfacial sites between a metal and an oxide support are crucial in determining the activity and selectivity of such heterogeneous catalysts. Herein, we demonstrate that the use of supported single‐atom catalysts (SACs) leads to high activity and selectivity in this reaction. The significantly increased number of interfacial sites, resulting from the presence of individually dispersed metal atoms on the support, renders SACs one or two orders of magnitude more active than the corresponding nanoparticle (NP) catalysts. Lattice oxygen atoms activated at interfacial sites were found to be more selective than O₂ activated on metal NPs in oxidizing the alcohol substrate. This work demonstrates for the first time that the number of interfacial sites is maximized in SACs, providing a new avenue for improving catalytic performance by developing appropriate SACs for alcohol oxidation and other reactions occurring at metal–support interfacial sites.     

Metal–Support Cooperative Catalysts for Environmentally Benign Molecular Transformations

Metal–support cooperative catalysts have been developed for sustainable and environmentally benign molecular transformations. The active metal centers and supports in these catalysts could cooperatively activate substrates, resulting in high catalytic performance for liquid‐phase reactions under mild conditions. These catalysts involved hydrotalcite‐supported gold and silver nanoparticles with high catalytic activity for organic reactions such as aerobic oxidation, oxidative carbonylation, and chemoselective reduction of epoxides to alkenes and nitrostyrenes to aminostyrenes using alcohols and CO/H₂O as reducing reagents. This high catalytic performance was due to cooperative catalysis between the metal nanoparticles and basic sites of the hydrotalcite support. To increase the metal–support cooperative effect, core–shell nanostructured catalysts consisting of gold or silver nanoparticles in the core and ceria supports in the shell were designed. These core–shell nanocomposite catalysts were effective for the chemoselective hydrogenation of nitrostyrenes to aminostyrenes, unsaturated aldehydes to allyl alcohols, and alkynes to alkenes using H₂ as a clean reductant. In addition, these solid catalysts could be recovered easily from the reaction mixture by simple filtration, and were reusable with high catalytic activity.     

Ag10Ti28‐Oxo Cluster Containing Single‐Atom Silver Sites: Atomic Structure and Synergistic Electronic Properties

Supported single‐atom catalysts have been emerging as promising materials in a variety of energy catalysis applications. However, studying the role of metal–support interactions at the molecular level remains a major challenge, primarily due to the lack of precise atomic structures. In this work, by replacing the frequently used TiO₂ support with its molecular analogue, titanium‐oxo cluster (TOC), we successfully produced a new kind of Ti‐O material doped with single silver sites. The as‐obtained Ag₁₀Ti₂₈ cluster, containing four exposed and six embedded Ag sites, is the largest noble‐metal‐doped Ti‐O cluster reported to date. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that the Ag₁₀Ti₂₈ core exhibits properties distinct from those of metallic Ag‐based materials. This Ti‐O material doped with single Ag sites presents a high ?_d and moderate CO binding capacity comparable to that of metallic Cu‐based catalysts, suggesting that it might display different catalytic performance from the common Ag‐based catalysts, for example, for CO₂ reduction. These results prove that the synergism of active surface metal atoms and the Ti‐O cluster support result in unique physical properties, which might open a new direction for single‐atom‐included catalysts.     

Highly Dense Isolated Metal Atom Catalytic Sites: Dynamic Formation and In Situ Observations

Atomically dispersed noble‐metal catalysts with highly dense active sites are promising materials with which to maximise metal efficiency and to enhance catalytic performance; however, their fabrication remains challenging because metal atoms are prone to sintering, especially at a high metal loading. A dynamic process of formation of isolated metal atom catalytic sites on the surface of the support, which was achieved starting from silver nanoparticles by using a thermal surface‐mediated diffusion method, was observed directly by using in situ electron microscopy and in situ synchrotron X‐ray diffraction. A combination of electron microscopy images with X‐ray absorption spectra demonstrated that the silver atoms were anchored on five‐fold oxygen‐terminated cavities on the surface of the support to form highly dense isolated metal active sites, leading to excellent reactivity in catalytic oxidation at low temperature. This work provides a general strategy for designing atomically dispersed noble‐metal catalysts with highly dense active sites.     

Hydroformylation of Olefins by a Rhodium Single‐Atom Catalyst with Activity Comparable to RhCl(PPh3)3

Homogeneous catalysts generally possess superior catalytic performance compared to heterogeneous catalysts. However, the issue of catalyst separation and recycling severely limits their use in practical applications. Single‐atom catalysts have the advantages of both homogeneous catalysts, such as “isolated sites”, and heterogeneous catalysts, such as stability and reusability, and thus would be a promising alternative to traditional homogeneous catalysts. In the hydroformylation of olefins, single‐atom Rh catalysts supported on ZnO nanowires demonstrate similar efficiency (TON≈40000) compared to that of homogeneous Wilkinson's catalyst (TON≈19000). HAADF‐STEM and infrared CO chemisorption experiments identified isolated Rh atoms on the support. XPS and XANES spectra indicate that the electronic state of Rh is almost metallic. The catalysts are about one or two orders of magnitude more active than most reported heterogeneous catalysts and can be reused four times without an obvious decline in activity.     

Design of Single Gold Atoms on Nitrogen‐Doped Carbon for Molecular Recognition in Alkyne Semi‐Hydrogenation

Single‐atom heterogeneous catalysts with well‐defined architectures are promising for deriving structure–performance relationships, but the challenge lies in finely tuning the structural and electronic properties of the metal. To tackle this point, a new approach based on the surface diffusion of gold atoms on different cavities of N‐doped carbon is presented. By controlling the activation temperature, the coordination neighbors (Cl, O, N) and the oxidation state of the metal can be tailored. Semi‐hydrogenation of various alkynes on the single‐atom gold catalysts displays substrate‐dependent catalytic responses; structure insensitive for alkynols with γ‐OH and unfunctionalized alkynes, and sensitive for alkynols with α‐OH. Density functional theory links the sensitivity for alkynols to the strong interaction between the substrate and specific gold‐cavity ensembles, mimicking a molecular recognition pattern that allows to identify the cavity site and to enhance the catalytic activity.     

Catalytic Activity of Cationic and Neutral Silver(I)–XPhos Complexes with Nitrogen Ligands or Tolylsulfonate for Mannich and Aza‐Diels–Alder Coupling Reactions

Cationic and neutral silver(I)–L complexes (L=Buchwald‐type biaryl phosphanes) with nitrogen co‐ligands or organosulfonate counter ions have been synthesised and characterised through their structural and spectroscopic properties. At room temperature, both cationic and neutral silver(I)–L complexes are extremely active catalysts in the promotion of the single and double A³ coupling of terminal (di)alkynes, pyrrolidine and formaldehyde. In addition, the aza‐Diels–Alder two‐ and three‐component coupling reactions of Danishefsky’s diene with an imine or amine and aldehyde are efficiently catalysed by these cationic or neutral silver(I)–L complexes. The solvent influences the catalytic performance due to limited complex solubility or solvent decomposition and reactivity. The isolation of new silver(I)–L complexes with reagents as ligands lends support to mechanistic proposals for such catalytic processes. The activity, stability and metal–distal arene interaction of these silver(I)–L catalysts have been compared with those of analogous cationic gold(I) and copper(I) complexes.     

单原子催化剂合成方法

单原子催化剂作为一种原子尺度的催化剂,在制氢、CO氧化及光催化等领域均具有广阔的应用前景。大量实验结果和理论计算证实了金属单原子和载体之间的相互作用,及由两者之间电荷转移引起的电子结构改变是单原子催化剂具有高的选择性和催化活性的主要原因。本文着重综述了近年来共沉淀法、化学还原法及浸渍法所制备单原子催化剂的催化性能,并进行展望。     

Maximizing the Number of Interfacial Sites in Single‐Atom Catalysts for the Highly Selective,Solvent‐Free Oxidation of Primary Alcohols

The solvent‐free selective oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes with molecular oxygen is highly attractive yet challenging. Interfacial sites between a metal and an oxide support are crucial in determining the activity and selectivity of such heterogeneous catalysts. Herein, we demonstrate that the use of supported single‐atom catalysts (SACs) leads to high activity and selectivity in this reaction. The significantly increased number of interfacial sites, resulting from the presence of individually dispersed metal atoms on the support, renders SACs one or two orders of magnitude more active than the corresponding nanoparticle (NP) catalysts. Lattice oxygen atoms activated at interfacial sites were found to be more selective than O₂ activated on metal NPs in oxidizing the alcohol substrate. This work demonstrates for the first time that the number of interfacial sites is maximized in SACs, providing a new avenue for improving catalytic performance by developing appropriate SACs for alcohol oxidation and other reactions occurring at metal–support interfacial sites.     

Regulating Charge Transfer of Lattice Oxygen in Single‐Atom‐Doped Titania for Hydrogen Evolution

Single‐atom catalysts have attracted much attention. Reported herein is that regulating charge transfer of lattice oxygen atoms in serial single‐atom‐doped titania enables tunable hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity. First‐principles calculations disclose that the activity of lattice oxygen for the HER can be regularly promoted by substituting its nearest metal atom, and doping‐induced charge transfer plays an essential role. Besides, the realm of the charge transfer of the active site can be enlarged to the second nearest atom by creating oxygen vacancies, resulting in further optimization for the HER. Various single‐atom‐doped titania nanosheets were fabricated to validate the proposed model. Taking advantage of the localized charge transfer to the lattice atom is demonstrated to be feasible for realizing precise regulation of the electronic structures and thus catalytic activity of the nanosheets.     

Carbon–Carbon Bond Formation in a Weak Ligand Field: Leveraging Open‐Shell First‐Row Transition‐Metal Catalysts

Unique features of earth‐abundant transition‐metal catalysts are reviewed in the context of catalytic carbon–carbon bond‐forming reactions. Aryl‐substituted bis(imino)pyridine iron and cobalt dihalide compounds, when activated with alkyl aluminum reagents, form highly active catalysts for the polymerization of ethylene. Open‐shell iron and cobalt alkyl complexes have been synthesized that serve as single‐component olefin polymerization catalysts. Reduced bis(imino)pyridine iron and cobalt dinitrogen compounds have also been discovered that promote the unique [2+2] cycloaddition of unactivated terminal alkenes. Studies of the electronic structure support open‐shell intermediates, a deviation from traditional strong‐field organometallic compounds that promote catalytic C−C bond formation.     

Shape Engineering of Oxide Nanoparticles for Heterogeneous Catalysis

The fabrication of oxide particles with tunable sizes and shapes at the nanoscale is one of the most crucial issues for the design and development of highly efficient heterogeneous catalysts. The shape of oxide nanoparticles has been demonstrated to affect their catalytic properties remarkably. Tuning the shape of oxide particles allows preferential exposure of specific reactive facets; this can maximize the number of active sites available to the reactants, which can improve the activity and also mediate the reaction route to a specific channel to achieve higher selectivity for a particular chemical reaction. In addition, the shape of the oxide particles affects their interaction with metal particles or clusters, and this involves interfacial strain and charge transfer. Metal particles or clusters dispersed on the reactive or polar facets of the oxide support often provide superior catalytic performance, primarily because of strong metal–support interactions. However, the geometric and electronic features of the metal‐oxide interface may change during the course of the reaction, induced by chemisorption of reactive molecules at elevated temperatures, which should be taken into account in proposing a structure–reactivity relationship.     

金属单原子催化剂增强硫正极动力学的研究进展

单质硫具有理论能量密度高(2600 Wh·kg-1)、放电比容量高(1672mAh·g-1)、成本低等优势,是锂硫电池的理想正极材料。然而,在充放电过程中硫正极迟缓的反应动力学显著地限制了锂硫电池的性能。金属单原子催化剂(SMACs)具有独特的电子结构、金属含量低、理论上100%的原子利用率、催化活性高等优势,其不仅有效地促进了不同中间相的转化反应,而且可为含硫物质提供丰富的锚定位点,从而显著优化硫正极氧化还原反应动力学、多硫化物的穿梭行为和锂硫电池电化学性能。本文以剖析金属单原子催化剂与硫正极间的相互作用为出发点,结合其催化效应表征技术,重点解析了不同类型单原子催化剂的构筑策略、活性调控及其优化硫正极氧化还原行为的机制,展望了金属单原子催化剂在锂硫电池领域面临的挑战和未来发展方向。     

Experimental and Theoretical Approaches to the Influence of the Addition of Pyrene to a Series of Pd and Ni NHC‐Based Complexes: Catalytic Consequences

A series of Ni and Pd complexes with three different N‐heterocyclic carbene (NHC)‐based ligands (imidazolylidene, benzimidazolylidene and pyrene–imidazolylidene) has been prepared and fully characterized. The influence of the addition of pyrene to solutions containing these complexes is studied by means of NMR and UV/Vis spectroscopies and by cyclic voltammetry. The addition of pyrene to the pyrene–NHC‐containing Pd and Ni complexes gives rise to the formation of adducts by π–π stacking interactions between pyrene and the pyrene group of the NHC ligand. This interaction causes a modification of the electronic properties of the metal, as demonstrated by cyclic voltammetric studies of the Ni–NHC complexes. Theoretical calculations support this type of π‐interactions, and justify the higher interactions observed with the pyrene–NHC containing complexes. The catalytic activities of the complexes were tested in the Suzuki–Miyaura C?C coupling and in the α‐arylation of ketones. The addition of pyrene as an external π‐stacking additive does not affect the activities of the complexes in the Suzuki–Miyaura coupling, but this observation may be justified due to the fact that the process is heterogeneously catalyzed, as indicated by the mercury‐drop test. The addition of pyrene to the catalytic α‐arylation of ketones results in a decrease in the activity of the reactions catalyzed by the pyrene–imidazolylidene palladium complex, whereas the other two catalysts do not modify their activity in the presence of this π‐stacking additive.     

Ordered Porous Nitrogen‐Doped Carbon Matrix with Atomically Dispersed Cobalt Sites as an Efficient Catalyst for Dehydrogenation and Transfer Hydrogenation of N‐Heterocycles

Single‐atom catalysts (SACs) have been explored widely as potential substitutes for homogeneous catalysts. Isolated cobalt single‐atom sites were stabilized on an ordered porous nitrogen‐doped carbon matrix (ISAS‐Co/OPNC). ISAS‐Co/OPNC is a highly efficient catalyst for acceptorless dehydrogenation of N‐heterocycles to release H₂. ISAS‐Co/OPNC also exhibits excellent catalytic activity for the reverse transfer hydrogenation (or hydrogenation) of N‐heterocycles to store H₂, using formic acid or external hydrogen as a hydrogen source. The catalytic performance of ISAS‐Co/OPNC in both reactions surpasses previously reported homogeneous and heterogeneous precious‐metal catalysts. The reaction mechanisms are systematically investigated using first‐principles calculations and it is suggested that the Eley–Rideal mechanism is dominant.     

Tripod Immobilization of Triphenylphosphane on a Silica‐Gel Surface to Enable Selective Mono‐Ligation to Palladium: Application to Suzuki–Miyaura Cross‐Coupling Reactions with Chloroarenes

A silica‐supported triphenylphosphane (Silica‐3p‐TPP) with a Ph₃P‐type core, immobilized on a silica surface, was synthesized and characterized by nitrogen‐absorption measurements and solid‐state NMR spectroscopy. The tripodal immobilization constrains the mobility of the phosphane molecule and causes the lone pair on the phosphorus atom to face in the direction perpendicular to the support, resulting in the selective formation of a 1:1 metal–phosphane species that is free from unfavorable steric repulsions caused by the silica surface. Heterogeneous Pd catalysts created in this manner enabled room‐temperature Suzuki–Miyaura cross‐coupling reactions with unactivated chloroarenes, despite the moderate electronic and steric nature of the Ph₃P‐based ligands. These catalysts also showed potential in reactions with more challenging substrates under mild conditions. Tripodally immobilized and well‐dispersed phosphanes on the silica surface were crucial for high catalytic activity.     

Al2O3 Nanosheets Rich in Pentacoordinate Al3+ Ions Stabilize Pt‐Sn Clusters for Propane Dehydrogenation

In heterogeneous catalysis, supports play a crucial role in modulating the geometric and electronic structure of the active metal phase for optimizing the catalytic performance. A γ‐Al₂O₃ nanosheet that contains 27 % pentacoordinate Al³⁺ sites can nicely disperse and stabilize raft‐like Pt‐Sn clusters as a result of strong interactions between metal and support. Consequently, there are strong electronic interactions between the Pt and Sn atoms, resulting in an increase in the electron density of the Pt sites. When used in the propane dehydrogenation reaction, this catalyst displayed an excellent specific activity for propylene formation with >99 % selectivity, and superior anti‐coking and anti‐sintering properties. Its exceptional ability to maintain the high activity and stability at ultrahigh space velocities further showed that the sheet construction of the catalyst facilitated the kinetic transfer process.     

One‐Pot Cooperation of Single‐Atom Rh and Ru Solid Catalysts for a Selective Tandem Olefin Isomerization‐Hydrosilylation Process

Realizing the full potential of oxide‐supported single‐atom metal catalysts (SACs) is key to successfully bridge the gap between the fields of homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis. Here we show that the one‐pot combination of Ru₁/CeO₂ and Rh₁/CeO₂ SACs enables a highly selective olefin isomerization‐hydrosilylation tandem process, hitherto restricted to molecular catalysts in solution. Individually, monoatomic Ru and Rh sites show a remarkable reaction specificity for olefin double‐bond migration and anti‐Markovnikov α‐olefin hydrosilylation, respectively. First‐principles DFT calculations ascribe such selectivity to differences in the binding strength of the olefin substrate to the monoatomic metal centers. The single‐pot cooperation of the two SACs allows the production of terminal organosilane compounds with high regio‐selectivity (>95 %) even from industrially‐relevant complex mixtures of terminal and internal olefins, alongside a straightforward catalyst recycling and reuse. These results demonstrate the significance of oxide‐supported single‐atom metal catalysts in tandem catalytic reactions, which are central for the intensification of chemical processes.