Near‐Monodisperse Tetrahedral Rhodium Nanoparticles on Charcoal: The Shape‐Dependent Catalytic Hydrogenation of Arenes

The shape of things to come? Monodisperse (4.9±0.4)-nm tetrahedral rhodium nanoparticles on charcoal (▴/C) are compared to (4.8±0.4)-nm spherical rhodium nanoparticles on charcoal (•/C) and commercial Rh/C as a catalyst for the hydrogenation of anthracene (see picture). The former is 5.8- and 109-times more active than the latter two, respectively. It also shows a higher selectivity and excellent activity in the hydrogenation of several other arenes.