Controlling the coordination sphere of heterogeneous single-metal-site catalysts is a powerful strategy for fine-tuning their catalytic properties but is fairly difficult to achieve. To address this problem, we immobilized supramolecular cages where the primary- and secondary coordination sphere are controlled by ligand design. The kinetics of these catalysts were studied in a model reaction, the hydrolysis of ammonia borane, over a temperature range using fast and precise online measurements generating high-precision Arrhenius plots. The results show how catalytic properties can be enhanced by placing a well-defined reaction pocket around the active site. Our fine-tuning yielded a catalyst with such performance that the reaction kinetics are diffusion-controlled rather than chemically controlled.

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Wiley VCH Verlag
NWO VIDI
doi.org/10.1002/chem.202301901
Chem. Eur. J.
Materials & Surface Science for EUV Lithography

Laan, P., Bobylev, E., de Zwart, F., Vleer, J., Troglia, A., Bliem, R., … Yan, N. (2023). Tailoring Secondary Coordination Sphere Effects in Single‐metal‐site Catalysts by Surface Immobilization of Supramolecular Cages. Chem. Eur. J., e202301901: 1–7. doi:10.1002/chem.202301901