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  • Review Article
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Strategies to improve hydrogen activation on gold catalysts

Nature Reviews Chemistry volume 8, pages 195–210 (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

Catalytic reactions involving molecular hydrogen are at the heart of many transformations in the chemical industry. Classically, hydrogenations are carried out on Pd, Pt, Ru or Ni catalysts. However, the use of supported Au catalysts has garnered attention in recent years owing to their exceptional selectivity in hydrogenation reactions. This is despite the limited understanding of the physicochemical aspects of hydrogen activation and reaction on Au surfaces. A rational design of new improved catalysts relies on making better use of the hydrogenating properties of Au. This Review analyses the strategies utilized to improve hydrogen–Au interactions, from addressing the importance of the Au particle size to exploring alternative mechanisms for H2 dissociation on Au cations and Au–ligand interfaces. These insights hold the potential to drive future applications of Au catalysis.

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Fig. 1: Types of H2 activation on heterogeneous Au catalysts and strategies to enhance H2 dissociation on Au.
Fig. 2: Selective hydrogenation on Au catalysts in the presence of ligands and in the case of Au-N-doped catalyst.
Fig. 3: Hot electron-induced H–D formation at 23 °C on 1% Au/SiO2 catalyst.
Fig. 4: Au single-atom catalysts.
Fig. 5: Spillover region identification.
Fig. 6: Morphology in the structure of the bimetallic Au@Pt core–shell nanocatalyst.

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Acknowledgements

R.W. discloses support for publication of this work from Programme Investissement d’Avenir (I-SITE ULNE / ANR-16-IDEX-0004 ULNE), Métropole Européenne de Lille (MEL) and Region Hauts-de-France for the (CatBioInnov project).

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  1. Robert Wojcieszak

    Present address: Université de Lorraine and CNRS, L2CM UMR 7053, Nancy, France

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Chimica Industriale “Toso Montanari”, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Nikolaos Dimitratos, Stefania Albonetti & Fabrizio Cavani

  2. Center for Chemical Catalysis-C3, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Nikolaos Dimitratos, Stefania Albonetti & Fabrizio Cavani

  3. Department of Chemistry, Materials and Chemical Engineering “Giulio Natta”, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy

    Gianvito Vilé

  4. Technische Universität Dresden, School of Science, Faculty of Chemistry and Food Chemistry, Dresden, Germany

    Jhonatan Fiorio

  5. Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Tarragona, Spain

    Núria López

  6. Departamento de Química Fundamental, Instituto de Química, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil

    Liane M. Rossi

  7. Univ. Lille, CNRS, Centrale Lille, Univ. Artois, UMR 8181 - UCCS - Unité de catalyse et chimie du solide, Lille, France

    Robert Wojcieszak

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Dimitratos, N., Vilé, G., Albonetti, S. et al. Strategies to improve hydrogen activation on gold catalysts. Nat Rev Chem 8, 195–210 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-024-00578-2

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