Xie, J., Li, X. orcid.org/0000-0002-6657-3456, Guo, J. et al. (4 more authors) (2023) Highly selective oxidation of benzene to phenol with air at room temperature promoted by water. Nature Communications, 14 (1). 4431. ISSN 2041-1723
Abstract
Phenol is one of the most important fine chemical intermediates in the synthesis of plastics and drugs with a market size of ca. $30b1 and the commercial production is via a two-step selective oxidation of benzene, requiring high energy input (high temperature and high pressure) in the presence of a corrosive acidic medium, and causing serious environmental issues2,3,4,5. Here we present a four-phase interface strategy with well-designed Pd@Cu nanoarchitecture decorated TiO2 as a catalyst in a suspension system. The optimised catalyst leads to a turnover number of 16,000–100,000 for phenol generation with respect to the active sites and an excellent selectivity of ca. 93%. Such unprecedented results are attributed to the efficient activation of benzene by the atomically Cu coated Pd nanoarchitecture, enhanced charge separation, and an oxidant-lean environment. The rational design of catalyst and reaction system provides a green pathway for the selective conversion of symmetric organic molecules.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2023 The Authors. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Chemical engineering; Photocatalysis |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Science (Sheffield) > Department of Chemistry (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 24 Jul 2023 14:37 |
Last Modified: | 24 Jul 2023 14:37 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/s41467-023-40160-w |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:201826 |