Chiral Carbon Nanodots Can Act as Molecular Catalysts in Chemical and Photochemical Reactions

In this work, a microwave synthesis followed by a simple purification process produces a new type of chiral Carbon Nanodots (CNDs). These CNDs are soluble in organic solvents, exhibit amino groups on their surface and display interesting absorption and emission properties along with mirror image profiles in the electronic circular dichroism spectrum. All these features set the stage for CNDs to act as multifunctional catalytic platforms, able to promote diverse chemical transformations. In particular, the outer shell composition of CNDs was instrumental to carry out organocatalytic reactions in an enantioselective fashion. In addition, the redox and light-absorbing properties of the material are suitable to drive photochemical processes. Finally, the photoredox and organocatalytic activations of CNDs were exploited at the same time to promote a cross-dehydrogenative coupling. This work demonstrates that CNDs can be used as catalysts to promote multiple reactivities, previously considered exclusive domain of molecular catalysts.