Abstract
Herein, we report a protocol for rapid preparation of uniformly sized Ru, Rh, Pd, Ir, and Pt nanoparticles stabilized by poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) via microwave-assisted chemical reduction with ethanol. Although the boiling point of ethanol, which has high reduction ability, is much lower than the temperature required for metal cation reduction, this solvent could be used as a reductant because the preparation was carried out in a sealed vessel. All metal nanoparticles showed similar sizes and amounts of poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone). The crystallite size of the Pd and Pt nanoparticles could be controlled by changing the ethanol concentration. The catalytic performance of the prepared metal nanoparticles was evaluated for the hydrogenation of benzonitrile under ambient conditions (25 °C, 1 bar H2). Rh nanoparticles showed the highest benzonitrile conversion and highest selectivity for secondary imine product. Interestingly, the particle-size dependence of the catalytic activity of the Rh nanoparticles showed volcano-type behavior; that is, the second smallest Rh nanoparticles (3.3 nm) showed the highest activity, which was attributed to high metal surface area and high turnover frequency. Notably, this is the first report of nitrile hydrogenation to afford a secondary imine under ambient conditions.
