Preface

To design and develop a green, sustainable and economical reaction is one of the major challenges in chemistry. Besides the traditional need for efficient and selective catalytic reactions, recent chemical synthesis strives for designing new and efficient catalytic systems with high rates of catalyst recovery. The initial papers in the field of nanocatalysis were published as early as 1941 on palladium and platinum nanoparticles as catalyst, which was prepared by reduction of the metal salts. This research of Rampino was evocative of the work of Prof. Paul Sabatier (Chemistry Nobel Prize in 1912), who discovered catalyzed hydrogenation using finely divided nickel particles prepared upon reduction of nickel oxide or hydroxide. Then, in 1987, Haruta et al. made another breakthrough in the field of nanocatalysis by reporting the catalytic activity of gold nanoparticles smaller than 5 nm towards oxidation of CO.

Inspired by the above initial discoveries of nanoparticles as catalyst, nanostructured materials have attracted the chemical community and are now recognized as efficient heterogeneous catalysts for various organic transformations and electroanalytical processes. Efficiency, selectivity and recyclability of nanocatalysts depend on their size, shape, composition and assembly, which further enhance the appeal of well-defined nanostructured materials as green and sustainable heterogeneous catalysts in a wide variety of organic transformations as well as electroanalytical processes. Role of nanocatalyst in organic synthesis and electroanalyses helps control the chemical reactions by varying their shape and size, chemical composition, dimensionality, etc. to improve the kinetics of the reaction. Several catalytic sites are explored due to variations in shape, size and composition of nanocatalysts because a specific site shows good selectivity towards a specific reaction pathway.

This book offers an exclusive link between the domains of nanocatalyst and their exploitation in organic syntheses as well as electrochemistry using nanotechnology-based catalysts and electrode structures, respectively. The book is aimed to prepare to deliver a quick and highly compiled knowledge which, in turn, is expected to promote further advances in the field of nanaocatalysis. Also, the book will open up new dimensions for designing novel nanocatalysts for unexplored chemical reactions important for academia and industries both. The topic chosen in the proposed book will be beneficial for a broad range of readers such as graduate, postgraduate, Ph.D. students, faculty members, research & development (R & D) personals, working in these areas as well.