Formation of nanoarchitectures including subnanometer palladium clusters and their use as highly active catalysts.

Subnanometer Pd clusters stabilized within micelles of random copolymers were formed by direct immobilization of Pd(0) via ligand exchange. The clusters were estimated to contain approximately seven Pd atoms on average (cluster diameter approximately 0.7 nm). Several Pd-containing micelle morphologies could be obtained by polymer cross-linking. These micelles containing Pd clusters were demonstrated to be efficient catalysts for hydrogenations and Heck reactions.