Cow-to-cow variation in nanocrystal synthesis: learning from technical-grade oleylamine

Many technical-grade reagents, including oleylamine, are broadly used as ligands in nanocrystal synthesis, allowing for cost-effective, and more environmentally friendly, preparation of materials in useful quantities. Impurities can represent 30% or more of these reagent blends, and have frequently emerged as substantial drivers of nanocrystal morphology, assembly, or other physical properties, making it important to understand their composition. Some functional alkyl reagents are derived from natural sources (e.g. often beef tallow, in the case of oleylamine), introducing alkyl chain structures very different than those that might be expected as side products of synthesis from pure feedstocks. Additionally, impurities can exhibit variations based on biological factors (e.g. species, diet, season). In biology, blends of alkyl chains allow for surprisingly sophisticated function of amphiphiles in the cell membrane, pointing to the possibility of similar control in synthetic materials if reagent composition were either better controlled or better understood. Here, we provide brief context on the breadth of roles technical-grade impurities have played in nanocrystal materials, followed by a perspective on oleylamine impurities, their physical properties, and their potential contributions to nanomaterial function.