Coadsorption of CO and O2 on small free gold cluster anions at cryogenic temperatures: Model complexes for catalytic CO oxidation

The cluster ions Aun(CO)m(O2)u− (n = 2,3; m = 1, u = 1,2) are successfully synthesized via coadsorption of oxygen and carbon monoxide onto mass-selected gold clusters inside a temperature controlled ion trap at 100 K. The investigated gold clusters Au1–3− show a significant size dependence in the reactivity toward oxygen and carbon monoxide. Whereas no reaction products are detected for the monomer ion, simultaneous adsorption of CO and O2 onto the dimer leads to the formation of Au2(CO)(O2)− which is regarded as a model complex to study the mechanism of catalytic CO oxidation on gold clusters. In the case of Au3− the conditioning of the cluster by CO preadsorption is found essential to enable O2 coadsorption.