Water-soluble NHC-stabilized platinum nanoparticles as recoverable catalysts for hydrogenation in water

The production of water-soluble and stable metallic nanoparticles that can act as recoverable catalysts still remains a challenge. Herein we report the behavior of a series of water-soluble platinum nanoparticles containing different sulfonated NHC ligands as recoverable catalysts for the hydrogenation of aromatic compounds in pure water. The NHC-protected nanoparticles are found to be active and, in general, can be reutilized with no loss of activity or selectivity, although differences are observed depending on the substitution of the NHC ligand or on the substrate being hydrogenated. Pt leaching was determined to be only 0.03–0.29%. TEM images reveal that the shape of the nanoparticles remains unaltered after catalysis. However, the size of the particles increased, although with no influence on their catalytic properties in many instances.