Selective Acceptorless Dehydrogenation of Primary Amines to Imines by Core–Shell Cobalt Nanoparticles

Ball-milling induced debonding of surface atoms from metal bulk for construing high-performance dual-site single-atom catalysts

Insert abstract text here. One of the most pressing challenges in single-atom catalysis is the manipulation of the coordination environment of the central metals to maximize catalyst performance. Herein, we fabricated a high-performance catalyst (Co-SNC) by introducing S into the neighboring position of the Co-N4 coordination. The developed ball-milling method enabled large-scale synthesis, and over 4.7 g of Co-SNC could be produced in one pot. In the benzylamine coupling reaction, Co-SNC exhibited the highest conversion of 97.5% with 99% selectivity toward N-benzylidenebenzylamine in 10 h among various Co catalysts. Density functional theory calculations revealed the crucial role of S atoms, which serve as the active sites for O2 activation, leaving the Co atoms free to adsorb benzylamine. Consequently, the adsorption energies of O2 and benzylamine were significantly increased. Our strategy suggests a feasible approach to enhance catalytic performance by delicately integrating dual active sites into a single catalyst unit.

Utility of Core-Shell Nanomaterials in the Catalytic Transformations of Renewable Substrates

In recent years, core-shell nano-catalysts have received increasing attention due to their tunable properties and broad applications in catalysis. Control of the two components of these materials allows their catalytic properties to be tuned to various sustainable processes in synthetic and energy-related applications. This Concept article describes recent state-of-the-art core-shell materials and their application as heterogeneous catalysts for a range of sustainable catalytic transformations, focusing on two important classes of renewable substrates, CO₂ and biomass. In the discussion, emphasis is directed to the role of the constituent parts of the core-shell structure and how they can be manipulated to enhance activity.