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Updated: Feb 11, 2026

Photogeneration of N-Heterocyclic Carbenes: Application in Photoinduced Ring-Opening Metathesis Polymerization
Published on: November 29, 2018
N-Heterocyclic carbene-stabilized gold nanoparticles with tunable sizes
N Bridonneau1, L Hippolyte, D Mercier
1Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Collège de France, Laboratoire de Chimie de la Matière Condensée de Paris, LCMCP, F-75005 Paris, France. francois.ribot@sorbonne-universite.fr.
Abstract:
A simple and straightforward synthesis of N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-protected gold nanoparticles is derived from (benz)imidazolium-AuX4 complexes and NaBH4 only. The proposed method allows size tuning, from 3 to 6 nm, by adding (benz)imidazolium bromide. Changing the reducing agent to tBuNH2BH3 shifts the size range to ca. 6-12 nm. A one pot protocol is also reported from AuCl, (benz)imidazolium bromides and NaBH4, thereby providing an even more straightforward way of producing NHC-capped gold nanoparticles. In addition, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) is used to unambiguously evidence, on the nanoparticles, the covalent bond formed between the NHC and the surface gold atoms.
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