Solid State and Gas Phase NMR Studies of Immobilized Catalysts and Catalytic Active Nanoparticles

Abstract

In the current study two new classes of stabile, catalytic active nanomaterials are investigated. The first class of nanoparticles consists of an inner metal core. To stabilize their structure the metal core is surrounded by organic ligands or embedded in a polymer. The second class consists of catalysts immobilized on mesoporous silica supports of SBA-3 type silica. Employing a combination of 1H, 2H, 13C and 29Si-solid state NMR spectroscopy the structure of the catalysts is analyzed. As a simple model for the catalytic properties of the particles, the activation of 2H2 gas on the surface of the particles is studied. Employing 1H and 2H gas phase NMR the kinetics of simple catalytic model reactions is studied. Employing 2H-NMR solid state NMR spectroscopy, the interaction of the metal surface with the substrate is characterized and kinetic data, which characterize the mobility of the deuterium on the surface, are extracted. For the interpretation of these data, parallel NMR studies of model η2-bound transition metal complexes are employed, which allow, owing to their simpler geometry and higher sensitivity, a quantitative modeling of the spin dynamics in the NMR experiment.