Synthesis, Characterization and Reactivity of New Heterometallic Rhodium Carbonyl Nanoclusters

The aim of my Ph.D. was to widen the chemistry of heterometallic Rh carbonyl clusters and synthesise and characterize new atomically-precise nanoclusters. Along with this, we evaluated the cytotoxicity of some heterometallic clusters through preliminary biological tests against different cell lines, in order to investigate their possible use in biology. Finally, we started testing homometallic Rh clusters in catalytic processes to compare their performances in low-temperature steam reforming reactions with more conventional Rh-based catalysts. More specifically, over these years we focused our attention on the study of four systems, Rh-Bi, Rh-Ge, Rh-Sb and Rh-Au obtaining several new compounds, which we characterized through single crystal X-ray diffractometry, IR spectroscopy, ESI-MS spectrometry and, in some cases, 31P{1H} NMR. As for the biological part, during my period at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), we tested some of our new Rh clusters against three cell lines, namely A2780, A2780cisR and HEK-293, in order to evaluate our species as potential cytotoxic agents. The Rh-Ge clusters achieved the best results. Finally, in collaboration with another research group of our same Department, we tested some Rh clusters as active phases in catalysts for the methane steam reforming at low temperature, obtaining similar results with those achieved by using a conventional Rh-based catalyst.