Surface coordination chemistry on graphene and two-dimensional carbon materials for well-defined single atom supported catalysts

Abstract Immobilization of transition metal complexes or single metallic atoms on graphene-based materials for catalytic applications is a topic of intensive research. Graphene-based materials such as few layer graphene, graphene oxide, graphdiyne or graphitic carbon nitride offer large possibilities to tune the environment of the metallic center and additionally provide specific electronic interactions, which can be exploited in thermal-, electro-, and photocatalysis. The synthesis of such well-defined single atom supported catalysts as well as the role of such species in catalysis is reviewed in this contribution.