Carbon-carbon coupling is a key step in the formation of larger hydrocarbons.  Currently the most common method employs homogenous Pd catalysts. The selectivity towards the desired coupling product is often controlled using expensive ligands and metals that are costly and suffer from deactivation via aggregation and leaching. A heterogenous method could aid in recovery of precious active metals for C-C coupling. Gold provides facile coupling of adsorbed alkyl fragments, but is poor at activating the carbon-halogen bond that starts the reaction by forming alkyl species on the surface. Ni based catalysts provide low barriers for dehalogenation, but will decompose adsorbed alkyl fragments and deactivate the Ni itself. By alloying Ni into Au at the single-atom limit, it is possible to activate key steps on the Ni site while retaining the selectivity of Au. This bifunctionality offers unique chemistry not available on either metal. We report selective C-C coupling of methyl groups on NiAu single-atom alloys using Temperature Programmed Reaction studies and Scanning Tunneling Microscopy to build structure-activity relationships of NiAu single-atom alloys (SAAs). These fundamental studies will further the understanding SAAs and allow for the rational design of NiAu alloy catalysts at the single-atom limit for more economical and efficient C-C coupling.

NiAu single-atom alloys for selective C-C coupling

2019 Fall National Meeting

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