Support-Induced unusual size dependence of Pd catalysts in chemoselective hydrogenation of para-chloronitrobenzene

For supported metal catalysts, the underlying support not only disperses and stabilizes metal particles, but also modulates their electronic structures remarkably, and even directly participates in catalytic reactions. Here we report that Pd nanoparticles (NPs) supported on oxygen-functionalized carbon black (Pd/O-C) show an unexpected inverse trend of selectivity on Pd particle size in chemoselective hydrogenation of para-chloronitrobenzene...