Highly Efficient Iron-Based Catalyst for Light-Driven Selective Hydrogenation of Nitroarenes
Jun Ma, Xin Mao, Canyu Hu, Xinyu Wang, Wanbing Gong, Dong Liu, Ran Long, Aijun Du, Huijun Zhao, Yujie Xiong
Abstract
Light-driven hydrogenation of nitro compounds to functionalized amines is of great importance yet a challenge for practical applications, which calls for the development of high-performance, nonprecious photocatalysts and efficient catalytic systems. Herein, we report a high-efficiency Fe 3 O 4 @TiO 2 photocatalyst via a sol–gel and subsequent pyrolysis strategy, which exhibits desirable photothermal hydrogenation performance of nitro compounds to functionalized amines with the excellent selectivity of >90% exceeding those of the state-of-the-art heterogeneous photocatalysts. Our experimental results and theoretical calculations for the first time reveal that Fe 3 O 4 is the major active phase, and the strong metal–support interaction between Fe 3 O 4 and reducible TiO 2 further leads to performance improvement, taking advantage of the enhanced photothermal effect and the improved adsorption for the reactant and hydrazine hydrate. Notably, a variety of halonitrobenzenes and pharmaceutical intermediates can be completely converted to functionalized amines with high selectivities, even in gram-scale reactions. This work provides a new insight into the rational design of nonprecious photo/thermo-catalysts for other catalytic reactions.