A Highly Substrate-Selective Metal Nanoreactor Using a Template-Imprinted Memory

The study presents an original, highly substrate-selective nanoreactor. The nanoreactor, consisting of a template-imprinted memory and Au nanoparticles, was fabricated using the molecular imprinting of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) and ionic Au precursor. The template-imprinted memory within the nanoreactor induced a highly substrate-selective behavior. The prepared nanoreactor was capable of highly specifically recognizing 4-NP but not its analogues 2-nitrophenol (2-NP) and 3-nitrophenol (3-NP). Under comparable conditions the nanoreactor significantly accelerated the reduction of 4-NP; however, only minimal promotion for 2-NP and 3-NP arose in the presence of the nanoreactor. Unlike traditional nanoreactors short of molecular recognition elements, the prepared nanoreactor was composed of substrate-imprinted frameworks, which thereby bred highly specifically catalysis.