Abstract
Since metal nanoparticles have a high surface-to-volume ratio and very active surface atoms, they are very attractive catalysts for a wide variety of organic and inorganic reactions, compared to bulk catalysts. Metal nanoparticles suspended in colloidal solutions and those adsorbed onto bulk supports have been used as catalysts for a wide variety of carbon-carbon bond formation reactions such as the Suzuki and Heck cross-coupling reactions. This review article highlights some of the latest advances in the application of noble metal nanoparticles as catalysts for these two industrially important classes of cross-coupling reactions. We will discuss several important advances in using metal nanocatalysts in Suzuki and Heck cross-coupling reactions such as investigations on the nanoparticle shape dependence on the catalytic activity, novel types of supported metal nanoparticles as nanocatalysts, and the use of bi-metallic, tri-metallic and multi-metallic nanoparticles as catalysts for the Suzuki and Heck cross-coupling reactions.