Organometallic approach to the synthesis and surface reactivity of noble metal nanoparticles

The use of organometallic precursors allows the synthesis in mild conditions of nanoparticles of uniform small size (1–3 nm) and of clean surface, which can be stabilized by polymers or ligands. These nano-objects display an interesting surface chemistry comparable to that of molecular species. This involves classical elementary steps of organometallic chemistry such as substitution and oxidative addition as well as ligand fluxionality. An overview of recent work in this field from our group will be presented including stabilization of metal nanoparticles by asymmetric ligands and preliminary catalytic attempts.