Direct Visualization of the Chemical Mechanism in SERRS of 4‐Aminothiophenol/Metal Complexes and Metal/4‐Aminothiophenol/Metal Junctions

Direct visualization of photoinduced tunneling charge transfer (TCT) in an Au₅/para‐aminothiophenol (PATP)/Ag₆ junction in which Au and Ag clusters form the first and second layer, respectively, is provided by the charge difference density (see picture; green and red stand for holes and electrons, respectively).

     

Selective reduction of nitroaromatic compounds on silver nanoparticles by visible light

For the first time, we report experimentally and theoretically that nitroaromatic compounds, 2,4‐dinitrobenzenethiol and 4‐chloro‐2‐nitrobenzenethiol, on silver sols can be selectively reduced to 2‐amino‐4‐nitrobenzenethiol and 2‐amino‐4‐chlorobenzenethiol simply by irradiating with a visible light in ambient conditions, and the selective photoreduction is a very facile process. The results of quantum chemical calculations are in good agreement with our experimental data. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.