Cerium(IV) Enhances the Catalytic Oxidation Activity of Single-Site Cu Active Sites in MOFs
Xin He, Benjamin G. Looker, Kimberly T. Dinh, Amanda W. Stubbs, Tianyang Chen, Randall J. Meyer, Pedro Serna, Yuriy Román‐Leshkov, Kyle M. Lancaster, Mircea Dincă
Abstract
The rates of catalytic oxidation of cyclohexane and CO are 4 and 20 times higher, respectively, with Cu supported on a cerium-based metal–organic framework (MOF) than on the structurally analogous zirconium material. Both Ce- and Zr-based copper catalysts feature uncommon three-coordinate CuII sites bearing different nuclearities, as determined by Cu K-edge extended X-ray absorption fine structure analysis. These results offer molecular-level understanding of the metal–support interface in MOF catalysts and establish correlations with the more established literature on zirconia- and ceria-supported heterogeneous catalysis.