New Route to Stabilize Ruthenium Nanoparticles with Non-Isolable Chiral N-Heterocyclic Carbenes

Ru nanoparticles (RuNPs) stabilized by non-isolable chiral N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs), namely SIDPhNp ((4S,5S)-1,3-di(naphthalen-1-yl)-4,5-diphenylimidazolidine) and SIPhOH ((S)-3-((1S,2R)-2-hydroxy-1,2-diphenylethyl)-1-((R)-2-hydroxy-1,2-diphenylethyl)-4,5-dihydro-3H-imidazoline), have been synthesized through a new procedure that does not require isolation of the free carbenes. The obtained RuNPs have been characterized by state-of-the-art techniques and their surface chemistry has been investigated by FTIR and solid-state MAS NMR upon the coordination of CO, which indicated the presence of free and reactive Ru sites. Their catalytic activity has been tested in various hydrogenation reactions involving competition between different sites, whereby interesting differences in selectivity were observed, but no enantioselectivity.