Doping a Single Palladium Atom into Gold Superatoms Stabilized by PVP: Emergence of Hydrogenation Catalysis

It is known that small gold clusters (average diameter: similar to 1.2 nm) stabilized by poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone) (Au:PVP) exhibit size-specific catalysis in aerobic oxidation reactions. A recent matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) study of Au:PVP revealed that Au clusters with the magic sizes of 34 and 43 were preferentially produced. Here, we reported how the doping of palladium (Pd) into Au:PVP affected the catalytic performance. MALDI-MS analysis of Pd-doped Au:PVP showed that a single Pd atom was selectively doped by co-reduction of Au and Pd precursor ions and that PdAu33 and PdAu43 were produced as the dominant species. Extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analysis indicated that a Pd atom was located at the exposed surface of the Au:PVP clusters. It was found that single Pd atom doping enhanced the catalytic activity for aerobic oxidation of benzyl alcohol and provided hydrogenation catalysis in a chemoselective manner to the C=C bonds over the C=O bonds.