Structural Engineering toward Gold Nanocluster Catalysis.

Atomically precise gold nanoclusters provide great opportunities to explore the relationship between the structure and properties of nanogold catalysts. A nanocluster consists of a metal core and a surface ligand shell, both the core and shell have significant effects on catalytic properties. Thanks to their precise structures, the active metal site of the clusters can be readily identified and the ligand effects in catalysis can be disclosed. In this Minireview, we summarize recent advances in catalytic research of gold nanoclusters, emphasizing four strategies for constructing open metal sites, including post-treatment, bulky ligands strategy, surface geometric mismatch method and heteroatom doping protocol. We also discuss the ligand effects on catalytic activity, selectivity and stability of gold cluster catalysts. Finally, we present the future challenges with regard to gold cluster catalysis.