N-Heterocyclic Carbene Modified Metal Nanocatalysts

The scientific community has widely studied the synthesis of metal nanoparticles (MNPs) and their applications in a plethora of catalytic transformations for the last 25 years. In these nanometric structures, the catalytic activity and selectivity can be modulated by the controlled tuning of the surface properties of the particles through the use of coordinating donor ligands bound to the metal surface. Among the ligands employed for MNP stabilization, N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) derivatives have emerged in the last 15 years as a prominent class of compounds due to their strong electron-donor properties and structural diversity. Herein, we discuss the unique ability of NHC ligands to control the reactivity of nanosized metal catalytic systems by describing the synthetic procedures employed for the preparation of NHC-stabilized nanoparticles, their characterization, and the applications of these nanosystems in different catalytic reactions, such as hydrogenation, C-C and C-X bond forming reactions, H/D exchange, oxidation, and electrocatalytic processes.