Engineering titania nanostructure to tune and improve its photocatalytic activity.

Photocatalytic pathways could prove crucial to the sustainable production of fuels and chemicals required for a carbon-neutral society. Electron-hole recombination is a critical problem that has, so far, limited the efficiency of the most promising photocatalytic materials. Here, we show the efficacy of anisotropy in improving charge separation and thereby boosting the activity of a titania (TiO2) photocatalytic system. Specifically, we show that H2 production in uniform, one-dimensional brookite titania nanorods is highly enhanced by engineering their length. By using complimentary characterization techniques to separately probe excited electrons and holes, we link the high observed reaction rates to the anisotropic structure, which favors efficient carrier utilization. Quantum yield values for hydrogen production from ethanol, glycerol, and glucose as high as 65%, 35%, and 6%, respectively, demonstrate the promise and generality of this approach for improving the photoactivity of semiconducting nanostructures for a wide range of reacting systems.

A Stable Nanocobalt Catalyst with Highly Dispersed CoNx Active Sites for the Selective Dehydrogenation of Formic Acid.

Novel nanostructured catalysts with highly dispersed cobalt have been synthesized by the pyrolysis of metal phenanthroline complexes. Materials with significantly different properties were obtained by simply tuning the metal/ligand ratio. The catalytic potential of this class of compounds is shown by the first example of the dehydrogenation of formic acid under the catalysis of atomically dispersed cobalt. From TEM, XPS, and XRD characterization, KSCN poisoning, and acid leaching, the formation of CoNx species as the active site seems key to the success of this reaction. Excellent stability and recyclability make this new catalyst also attractive for other applications.

A Biomass-Derived Non-Noble Cobalt Catalyst for Selective Hydrodehalogenation of Alkyl and (Hetero)Aryl Halides.

Hydrodehalogenation is a straightforward approach for detoxifications of harmful anthropogenic organohalide-based pollutants, as well as removal of halide protecting groups used in multistep syntheses. A novel sustainable catalytic material was prepared from biowaste (chitosan) in combination with an earth-abundant cobalt salt. The heterogeneous catalyst was fully characterized by transmission electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements, and successfully applied to hydrodehalogenation of alkyl and (hetero)aryl halides with broad scope (>40 examples) and excellent chemoselectivity using molecular hydrogen as a reductant. The general usefulness of this method is demonstrated by successful detoxification of non-degradable pesticides and fire retardants. Moreover, the potential of the catalyst as a deprotection tool is demonstrated in a multistep synthesis of (±)-peronatin B (alkaloid).

Selective Catalytic Hydrogenation of Heteroarenes with N-Graphene-Modified Cobalt Nanoparticles (Co3O4-Co/NGr@α-Al2O3).

Cobalt oxide/cobalt-based nanoparticles featuring a core-shell structure and nitrogen-doped graphene layers on alumina are obtained by pyrolysis of Co(OAc)2/phenanthroline. The resulting core-shell material (Co3O4-Co/NGr@α-Al2O3) was successfully applied in the catalytic hydrogenation of a variety of N-heteroarenes including quinolines, acridines, benzo[h], and 1,5-naphthyridine as well as unprotected indoles. The peculiar structure of the novel heterogeneous catalyst enables activation of molecular hydrogen at comparably low temperature. Both high activity and selectivity were achieved in these hydrogenation processes, to give important building blocks for bioactive compounds as well as the pharmaceutical industry.

Design of BODIPY Dyes as Photosensitisers in Multicomponent Catalyst Systems for Light-Driven Hydrogen Production.

A study of visible-light-driven hydrogen production using a multicomponent system consisting of different boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) dyes, triethylamine and [{Pd(PPh3)Cl2}2] from THF/water mixtures is presented. A trio of meso-mesityl BODIPY dyes display the best activities and long-term stabilities of more than ten days with the 2,6-diiodo derivative showing the best performance.

New Insights into the Nature of Co-components and Their Impact on Pd Structure: X-ray Absorption Studies on Toluene Acetoxylation Catalysts.

Co-components are a powerful tool to tune the performance of catalysts, but their nature and their impact on the catalysts is often controversially discussed. In this study X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) was employed to elucidate the nature of co-components and their impact on the catalytic reaction. In anatase-supported Pd-based catalysts for the gas-phase acetoxylation of toluene, less noble co-components (e.g., Mn, Co, and Sb) spread over the support in their oxidic form and changed their valence state on stream. Incorporated atoms such as C or a small part of the Sb affect the electronic structure of Pd. For the noble Au, only a weak interaction with the support and Pd was observed during time on stream. Only XAS at the K-edges together with investigations of the Pd L-edge for a better understanding of the electronic structure, supplemented by STEM for elemental mapping, allow such detailed insights.

Morphological impact on the reaction kinetics of size-selected cobalt oxide nanoparticles.

Apart from large surface areas, low activation energies are essential for efficient reactions, particularly in heterogeneous catalysis. Here, we show that not only the size of nanoparticles but also their detailed morphology can crucially affect reaction kinetics, as demonstrated for mass-selected, soft-landed, and oxidized cobalt clusters in a 6 nm to 18 nm size range. The method of reflection high-energy electron diffraction is extended to the quantitative determination of particle activation energies which is applied for repeated oxidation and reduction cycles at the same particles. We find unexpectedly small activation barriers for the reduction reaction of the largest particles studied, despite generally increasing barriers for growing sizes. We attribute these observations to the interplay of reaction-specific material transport with a size-dependent inner particle morphology.

Convenient and mild epoxidation of alkenes using heterogeneous cobalt oxide catalysts.

A general epoxidation of aromatic and aliphatic olefins has been developed under mild conditions using heterogeneous Cox Oy -N/C (x=1,3; y=1,4) catalysts and tert-butyl hydroperoxide as the terminal oxidant. Various stilbenes and aliphatic alkenes, including renewable olefins, and vitamin and cholesterol derivatives, were successfully transformed into the corresponding epoxides with high selectivity and often good yields. The cobalt oxide catalyst can be recycled up to five times without significant loss of activity or change in structure. Characterization of the catalyst by XRD, TEM, XPS, and EPR analysis revealed the formation of cobalt oxide nanoparticles with varying size (Co3 O4 with some CoO) and very few large particles with a metallic Co core and an oxidic shell. During the pyrolysis process the nitrogen ligand forms graphene-type layers, in which selected carbon atoms are substituted by nitrogen.

Low-temperature oxidation of carbon monoxide with gold(III) ions supported on titanium oxide.

Au/TiO2 catalysts prepared by a deposition-precipitation process and used for CO oxidation without previous calcination exhibited high, largely temperature-independent conversions at low temperatures, with apparent activation energies of about zero. Thermal treatments, such as He at 623 K, changed the conversion-temperature characteristics to the well-known S-shape, with activation energies slightly below 30 kJ mol(-1). Sample characterization by XAFS and electron microscopy and a low-temperature IR study of CO adsorption and oxidation showed that CO can be oxidized by gas-phase O2 at 90 K already over the freeze-dried catalyst in the initial state that contained Au exclusively in the +3 oxidation state. CO conversion after activation in the feed at 303 K is due to Au(III)-containing sites at low temperatures, while Au(0) dominates conversion at higher temperatures. After thermal treatments, CO conversion in the whole investigated temperature range results from sites containing exclusively Au(0).

Selective oxidation of alcohols to esters using heterogeneous Co3O4-N@C catalysts under mild conditions.

Novel cobalt-based heterogeneous catalysts have been developed for the direct oxidative esterification of alcohols using molecular oxygen as benign oxidant. Pyrolysis of nitrogen-ligated cobalt(II) acetate supported on commercial carbon transforms typical homogeneous complexes to highly active and selective heterogeneous Co3O4-N@C materials. By applying these catalysts in the presence of oxygen, the cross and self-esterification of alcohols to esters proceeds in good to excellent yields.

Water oxidation with molecularly defined iridium complexes: insights into homogeneous versus heterogeneous catalysis.

Molecularly defined Ir complexes and different samples of supported IrO(2) nanoparticles have been tested and compared in the catalytic water oxidation with cerium ammonium nitrate (CAN) as the oxidant. By comparing the activity of nano-scaled supported IrO(2) particles to the one of organometallic complexes it is shown that the overall activity of the homogeneous Ir precursors is defined by both the formation of the homogeneous active species and its conversion to Ir(IV)-oxo nanoparticles. In the first phase of the reaction the activity is dominated by the homogeneous active species. With increasing reaction time, the influence of nano-sized Ir-oxo particles becomes more evident. Notably, the different conversion rates of the homogeneous precursor into the active species as well as the conversion into Ir-oxo nanoparticles and the different particle sizes have a significant influence on the overall activity. In addition to the homogeneous systems, IrO(2)@MCM-41 has also been synthesized, which contains stabilized nanoparticles of between 1 and 3 nm in size. This latter system shows a similar activity to IrCl(3)⋅xH(2)O and complexes 4 and 5. Mechanistic insights were obtained by in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy and scanning transmission electron microscopy.

Tailoring the synthesis of supported Pd catalysts towards desired structure and size of metal particles.

In a systematic study, the influence of different preparation parameters on phase composition and size of metal crystallites and particles in Pd-Cu/TiO(2) and Pd-Sb/TiO(2) catalyst materials has been explored. Temperature and atmosphere of thermal pretreatment (pure He or 10% H(2)/He), nature of metal precursors (chlorides, nitrates or acetates) as well as of ammonium additives (ammonium sulfate, nitrate, carbonate) and urea were varied with the aim of tailoring the synthesis procedure for the preferential formation of metal particles with similar size and structure as observed recently in active catalysts after long-term equilibration under catalytic reaction conditions in acetoxylation of toluene to benzylacetate. Among the metal precursors and additives, the chloride metal precursors and (NH(4))(2)SO(4) were most suitable. Upon thermal pretreatment of Pd-Sb or Pd-Cu precursors, chloroamine complexes of Pd and Cu are formed, which decompose above 220 degrees C to metallic phases independent of the atmosphere. In He, metallic Pd particles were formed with both the co-components. In H(2)/He flow, Pd-Cu precursors were converted to core-shell particles with a Cu shell and a Pd core, while Sb(1)Pd(1) and Sb(7)Pd(20) alloy phases were formed in the presence of Sb. Metal crystallites of about 40 nm agglomerate to particles of up to 150 nm in He and to even larger size in H(2)/He.

Green and efficient synthesis of sulfonamides catalyzed by nano-Ru/Fe(3)O(4).

The environmentally benign synthesis of carbon-nitrogen bonds continues to be an active and challenging field of chemical research. Here, a novel, environmentally benign method for the direct coupling of sulfonamides and alcohols is described. Despite the importance of sulfonamide derivatives as intermediates in drug synthesis, till now such transformations are rarely known. For the first time a domino dehydrogenation-condensation-hydrogenation sequence of alcohols and sulfonamides has been realized in the presence of a nanostructured catalyst. The magnetic property of the catalyst system allows for convenient isolation of the product and efficient recycling of the catalyst. A variety of coupling reactions of benzylic alcohols and sulfonamides including various heterocycles were successfully realized, often with >80% isolated yield. Advantageously, only one equivalent of the primary alcohol is consumed in the process. Mechanistic investigations of the competitive reactions of benzyl alcohol and d(7)-benzyl alcohol with p-toluenesulfonamide revealed a kinetic isotope effect (k(H)/k(D)) of 2.86 (+/-0.109) for the dehydrogenation of benzyl alcohol and 0.74 (+/-0.021) for the hydrogenation of N-benzylidene-p-toluenesulfonamide intermediate, which suggests dehydrogenation of the alcohol to be the rate determining step.

Cobalt-based nanoparticles prepared from MOF-carbon templates as efficient hydrogenation catalysts.

The development of efficient and selective nanostructured catalysts for industrially relevant hydrogenation reactions continues to be an actual goal of chemical research. In particular, the hydrogenation of nitriles and nitroarenes is of importance for the production of primary amines, which constitute essential feedstocks and key intermediates for advanced chemicals, life science molecules and materials. Herein, we report the preparation of graphene shell encapsulated Co3O4- and Co-nanoparticles supported on carbon by the template synthesis of cobalt-terephthalic acid MOF on carbon and subsequent pyrolysis. The resulting nanoparticles create stable and reusable catalysts for selective hydrogenation of functionalized and structurally diverse aromatic, heterocyclic and aliphatic nitriles, and as well as nitro compounds to primary amines (>65 examples). The synthetic and practical utility of this novel non-noble metal-based hydrogenation protocol is demonstrated by upscaling several reactions to multigram-scale and recycling of the catalyst.

Intermetallic nickel silicide nanocatalyst-A non-noble metal-based general hydrogenation catalyst.

Hydrogenation reactions are essential processes in the chemical industry, giving access to a variety of valuable compounds including fine chemicals, agrochemicals, and pharmachemicals. On an industrial scale, hydrogenations are typically performed with precious metal catalysts or with base metal catalysts, such as Raney nickel, which requires special handling due to its pyrophoric nature. We report a stable and highly active intermetallic nickel silicide catalyst that can be used for hydrogenations of a wide range of unsaturated compounds. The catalyst is prepared via a straightforward procedure using SiO2 as the silicon atom source. The process involves thermal reduction of Si-O bonds in the presence of Ni nanoparticles at temperatures below 1000°C. The presence of silicon as a secondary component in the nickel metal lattice plays the key role in its properties and is of crucial importance for improved catalytic activity. This novel catalyst allows for efficient reduction of nitroarenes, carbonyls, nitriles, N-containing heterocycles, and unsaturated carbon-carbon bonds. Moreover, the reported catalyst can be used for oxidation reactions in the presence of molecular oxygen and is capable of promoting acceptorless dehydrogenation of unsaturated N-containing heterocycles, opening avenues for H2 storage in organic compounds. The generality of the nickel silicide catalyst is demonstrated in the hydrogenation of over a hundred of structurally diverse unsaturated compounds. The wide application scope and high catalytic activity of this novel catalyst make it a nice alternative to known general hydrogenation catalysts, such as Raney nickel and noble metal-based catalysts.

Control of coordinatively unsaturated Zr sites in ZrO2 for efficient C-H bond activation.

Due to the complexity of heterogeneous catalysts, identification of active sites and the ways for their experimental design are not inherently straightforward but important for tailored catalyst preparation. The present study reveals the active sites for efficient C-H bond activation in C1-C4 alkanes over ZrO2 free of any metals or metal oxides usually catalysing this reaction. Quantum chemical calculations suggest that two Zr cations located at an oxygen vacancy are responsible for the homolytic C-H bond dissociation. This pathway differs from that reported for other metal oxides used for alkane activation, where metal cation and neighbouring lattice oxygen form the active site. The concentration of anion vacancies in ZrO2 can be controlled through adjusting the crystallite size. Accordingly designed ZrO2 shows industrially relevant activity and durability in non-oxidative propane dehydrogenation and performs superior to state-of-the-art catalysts possessing Pt, CrOx, GaOx or VOx species.

MOF-derived cobalt nanoparticles catalyze a general synthesis of amines.

The development of base metal catalysts for the synthesis of pharmaceutically relevant compounds remains an important goal of chemical research. Here, we report that cobalt nanoparticles encapsulated by a graphitic shell are broadly effective reductive amination catalysts. Their convenient and practical preparation entailed template assembly of cobalt-diamine-dicarboxylic acid metal organic frameworks on carbon and subsequent pyrolysis under inert atmosphere. The resulting stable and reusable catalysts were active for synthesis of primary, secondary, tertiary, and N-methylamines (more than 140 examples). The reaction couples easily accessible carbonyl compounds (aldehydes and ketones) with ammonia, amines, or nitro compounds, and molecular hydrogen under industrially viable and scalable conditions, offering cost-effective access to numerous amines, amino acid derivatives, and more complex drug targets.

Synthesis of Single Atom Based Heterogeneous Platinum Catalysts: High Selectivity and Activity for Hydrosilylation Reactions.

Catalytic hydrosilylation represents a straightforward and atom-efficient methodology for the creation of C-Si bonds. In general, the application of homogeneous platinum complexes prevails in industry and academia. Herein, we describe the first heterogeneous single atom catalysts (SACs), which are conveniently prepared by decorating alumina nanorods with platinum atoms. The resulting stable material efficiently catalyzes hydrosilylation of industrially relevant olefins with high TON (≈105). A variety of substrates is selectively hydrosilylated including compounds with sensitive reducible and other functional groups (N, B, F, Cl). The single atom based catalyst shows significantly higher activity compared to related Pt nanoparticles.

Cobalt-based nanocatalysts for green oxidation and hydrogenation processes.

This protocol describes the preparation of cobalt-based nanocatalysts and their applications in environmentally benign redox processes for fine chemical synthesis. The catalytically active material consists of nanoscale Co3O4 particles surrounded by nitrogen-doped graphene layers (NGrs), which have been prepared by pyrolysis of phenanthroline-ligated cobalt acetate on carbon. The resulting materials have been found to be excellent catalysts for the activation of both molecular oxygen and hydrogen; in all tested reactions, water was the only by-product. By applying these catalysts, green oxidations of alcohols and hydrogenation of nitroarenes for the synthesis of nitriles, esters and amines are demonstrated. The overall time required for catalyst preparation and for redox reactions is 35 h and 10-30 h, respectively.

Pronounced Size Dependence in Structure and Morphology of Gas-Phase Produced, Partially Oxidized Cobalt Nanoparticles under Catalytic Reaction Conditions.

It is generally accepted that optimal particle sizes are key for efficient nanocatalysis. Much less attention is paid to the role of morphology and atomic arrangement during catalytic reactions. Here, we unravel the structural, stoichiometric, and morphological evolution of gas-phase produced and partially oxidized cobalt nanoparticles in a broad size range. Particles with diameters between 1.4 and 22 nm generated in cluster sources are size selected and deposited on amorphous alumina (Al2O3) and ultrananocrystalline diamond (UNCD) films. A combination of different techniques is employed to monitor particle properties at the stages of production, exposure to ambient conditions, and catalytic reaction, in this case, the oxidative dehydrogenation of cyclohexane at elevated temperatures. A pronounced size dependence is found, naturally classifying the particles into three size regimes. While small and intermediate clusters essentially retain their compact morphology, large particles transform into hollow spheres due to the nanoscale Kirkendall effect. Depending on the substrate, an isotropic (Al2O3) or anisotropic (UNCD) Kirkendall effect is observed. The latter results in dramatic lateral size changes. Our results shed light on the interplay between chemical reactions and the catalyst's structure and provide an approach to tailor the cobalt oxide phase composition required for specific catalytic schemes.