SYNTHESIS AND SPECTROSCOPIC PROPERTIES OF A NOVEL CLASS OF COPPER PARTICLES STABILIZED BY TRIPHENYLPHOSPHINE

The reaction of (C5H5)Cu(Bu(t)NC) with CO (1 or 3 atm) in the presence of sub-stoichiometric amounts of PPh(3) leads to phosphine stabilized copper particles of ca. 20 Angstrom showing a narrow size distribution; P-31{H-1} NMR studies demonstrate both the fluxionality of the phosphine ligands and the absence of the Knight shift on these particles whereas UV-VIS spectroscopy indicates an important modification of the absorption bands of these compounds compared to non complexed copper particles of similar size.