Cu2O nanocrystals: Unveiling facet-dependent catalysis in phenylacetylene homocoupling

We report a one-pot synthesis method to synthesize Cu 2 O nanocubes (NCs) and octahedra (Oh) using mild reducing agents such as ascorbic acid (L-AA), and D-glucose, respectively. The shape-dependent nanostructures of Cu 2 O have been characterized using various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques exhibiting an average size of 450 and 650 nm for Cu 2 O NCs and Oh, respectively which is influenced by their size and presence of various facets. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns reveal the crystalline nature of Cu 2 O nanostructures. The synthesized Cu 2 O NCs and Oh were investigated for their catalytic potential in phenylacetylene homocoupling organic reaction. The aryl alkyne homocoupling reaction demonstrates excellent efficacy under optimized reaction conditions. This work highlights the potential of (111)-bound Cu 2 O Oh in achieving high organocatalytic activity for aryl alkyne homocoupling transformations. Furthermore, Cu 2 O Oh demonstrated efficacy in catalyzing a wide range of substituted aryl alkynes under optimized reaction conditions, underscoring the importance of facet engineering in nanocatalysts for organic coupling reactions. The study found that Cu 2 O Oh exhibited enhanced catalytic efficiency, achieving a yield of 95.6 %, which is significantly higher than the 54.3 % yield obtained with Cu 2 O NCs. This superior performance of Cu 2 O Oh is attributed to the high catalytic activity of the (111) facets. The high organocatalytic activity of Cu₂O Oh for phenylacetylene homocoupling reaction. • Developed one-pot synthesis for Cu2O Oh and NCs using mild reducing agents. • Optimized stoichiometric ratios for cubic and octahedral Cu2O morphologies. • Facet engineering of Cu2O Oh for enhancing organocatalytic activity. • Cu2O Oh showed 95.6 % yield in phenylacetylene homocoupling, outperforming Cu2O NCs.