One-step functionalization of gold nanorods with N-heterocyclic carbene ligands.

Here, we present a one-step approach to append N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) to gold nanorods. The nanorods are treated with NHC gold or silver complexes in a mixture of water and dichloromethane. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy and mass spectrometry characterization reveals that this procedure results in a ligand transfer yielding chemisorbed NHCs.