Catalytic Application of Nano-Gold Catalysts

Gold, considered catalytically inactive for a long time, is now a
fascinating partner of modern chemistry, as scientists such as Bond,
Teles, Haruta, Hutchings, Ito and Hayashi opened new perspectives
for the whole synthetic chemist community. Recently gold has
attracted significant attention due to its advantageous characteristics
as a catalytic material and since it allows easy functionalization with
biologically active molecules. In this context, when gold is prepared as
very small particles, it turns out to be a highly active catalyst.
However, such a phenomenon completely disappears when the gold
particle size grows into the micrometer range. Therefore, the
preparation for obtaining an active gold catalyst is so important.
The primary objective of this book is to provide a comprehensive
overview of gold metal nanoparticles and their application as
promising catalysts.