Encapsulation of Au55 Clusters within Surface-Supported Metal–Organic Frameworks for Catalytic Reduction of 4-Nitrophenol

We demonstrate a facile approach to encapsulate ligand-stabilized Au55 clusters [Au55(PPh3)12Cl6] within highly oriented surface-supported metal–organic framework (SURMOF) thin films via liquid-phase epitaxy. The Au55 clusters were successfully loaded into the pores of SURMOF during their fabrication, which has been confirmed by X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, and ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy. Computational modeling reveals that there is a strong interaction between the Au55 core and the oligophenyl ligands of the MOF pore, leading to a removal of the PPH3 ligands. The stabilized Au55 clusters within SURMOF exhibit excellent catalytic activity for the reduction of 4-nitrophenol.