Being two is better than one—catalytic reductions with dendrimer encapsulated copper- and copper–cobalt-subnanoparticles

Abstract

Copper and copper–cobalt subnanoparticles have been synthesized using 4-carbomethoxypyrrolidone terminated PAMAM-dendrimers as templates. The metal particles were applied in catalytic reduction reactions. While Cu subnanoparticles were only capable of reducing conjugated double bonds, enhancing the Cu particles with Co led to a surprising increase in catalytic activity, reducing also isolated carbon double and triple bonds.