Supported Metal Nanoparticles in Metal‐Organic Monoliths for Assembly of a Catalytic Microfluidic Reactor

Abstract A novel strategy has been developed to fabricate an Au@CrADC (ADC=5‐aminobenzene‐1,3‐dicarboxylate) metal‐organic monolithic capillary in microfluidic reactors. Monolithic Cr³⁺‐based metal‐organic gel (MOG) as catalyst support is synthesized inside fused‐silica capillary employing a two‐step procedure including surface modification of carboxyl group to provide anchoring sites and subsequent MOG formation. Subsequently, Au nanoparticles are in situ immobilized in the monolithic MOG support as active catalysts. The resulting Au@CrADC monolithic capillary is used to assemble a catalytic microfluidic reactor. The catalytic activity of the Au@CrADC reactor is probed by using the oxidative alkyne coupling reaction to synthesize 1,3‐diynes. The catalytic microfluidic reactor demonstrates significantly enhanced catalytic activity in comparison with the corresponding reactions under batch conditions. Additionally, the microfluidic reactor shows high stability with no significant catalytic deactivation during repeated uses.