Pure and Applied Chemistry

Abstract: Research in materials with dimensions of the order of nanometers has made a huge impact on the scientific community in the past decade. Chemists play an important role in this area of research as they endeavor to prepare pure, crystalline, surface-derivatized nanoparticles, which can be processed in potential applications. This review describes some of the routes to nanoparticles with particular emphasis on the use of metal complexes in the preparation of high-quality nanoparticles. The synthesis of II/VI semiconductor nanoparticles such as CdSe, CdS, ZnS, and PbS using the single molecular precursor route is reviewed in detail. The synthesis of some III/V semiconductor materials is also briefly discussed. Finally, current work on the shape control of nanoparticles is described. The mechanism of growth induced by variation of reaction conditions is discussed using CdSe nanoparticles as an example.