Selective Hydrogen Bonding as a Driving Force for Nanoparticle Self-assembly

Self-assembly techniques have long been used to generate novel materials with interesting optical, magnetic, electronic, and catalytic properties. This project aimed to generate the ligands capable of co-assembling catalytically active metal Pd and the suitable substrates (Fe3O4, CeO2). Such a system is desirable for high catalytic activities which are attained from large metal/substrate contact surface area. The ligands are expected to tune the metal/substrate ratio through self-assembly to maximum the contact area. To achieve such system, this research focused on the synthesis of suitable hydrogen bonding ligands that have a functional group capable of binding the corresponding nanoparticle (NP) surfaces as well as selectively hydrogen bonding with one another. Multiple derivatives of such hydrogen bonding host-guest systems have been synthesized and the synthetic routes are reported. The ability to form hydrogen bonds with one another was further confirmed by NMR analysis of suitable mixtures validating the ligand design