Isomorphic Cu‐Doped Ag Nanoclusters for Water‐Modulated Conversion of Propargylic Alcohols and CO 2 to Cyclic Carbonates or α‐Hydroxy Ketones
ABSTRACT Developing a single catalytic system capable of producing distinct high‐value products from the same feedstock under mild conditions remains a formidable challenge. Here, we report a heterogeneous catalyst based on a copper‐doped silver nanocluster (Ag 3 Cu 2 /CNT) engineered via isomorphic doping. Its unique structure features fully exposed Ag─Cu dual sites, with its core innovation lying in the highly efficient catalysis of the water‐modulated conversion of propargylic alcohols and CO 2 , selectively yielding cyclic carbonates (98%) under anhydrous conditions or α‐hydroxy ketones (96.8%) with added water, both with record turnover numbers (>19 000) at gram scale. Crucially, through atomic‐precision paired comparison with an isostructural Ag 5 /CNT, we directly attribute the superior performance to synergistic Ag─Cu sites, where Cu preferentially anchors the alkyne group. Combined spectroscopic, intermediate‐trapping, and computational studies reveal that water modulates the reaction pathway, while the instability of the undoped Ag 5 cluster stems from dynamic Ag─S bond cleavage. This work establishes a scalable catalytic platform and provides a general design strategy—isomorphic heteroatom doping coupled with site exposure—for constructing predictable, tunable, and stable heterogeneous cluster catalysts.
Authors
- Ying Lv (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0394-187X)
- Dongsheng Song (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1975-7671)
- Hongting Sheng (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1146-0948)
- Haizhu Yu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8259-6466)
- Manzhou Zhu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3068-7160)
- Haifeng Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0573-9552)
- Yao Qin
- Bingbing Wen
- Yang Wang
- Lin Li
- Changhui Hou
Institutions
- Fuyang Normal University (CN)
- Anhui University (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Advanced Functional Materials
- Published
- 2026-10-27
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.79252
- Primary Topic
- Carbon dioxide utilization in catalysis
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00