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Du X, Duan W, Gao Y, Wang T, Li T, Lin Y, Yu ZP, Xu K. Nano-Cu Derived from a Copper Nitride Precatalyst for Reductive Coupling of Nitroaromatics to Azo Compounds. Inorg Chem 2024; 63:4328-4336. [PMID: 38367216 DOI: 10.1021/acs.inorgchem.3c04552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/19/2024]
Abstract
The study of structural reconstruction is vital for the understanding of the real active sites in heterogeneous catalysis and guiding the improved catalyst design. Herein, we applied a copper nitride precatalyst in the nitroarene reductive coupling reaction and made a systematic investigation on the dynamic structural evolution behaviors and catalytic performance. This Cu3N precatalyst undergoes a rapid phase transition to nanostructured Cu with rich defective sites, which act as the actual catalytic sites for the coupling process. The nitride-derived defective Cu is very active and selective for azo formation, with 99.6% conversion of nitrobenzene and 97.1% selectivity to azobenzene obtained under mild reaction conditions. Density functional theory calculations suggest that the defective Cu sites play a role for the preferential adsorption of nitrosobenzene intermediates and significantly lowered the activation energy of the key coupling step. This work not only proposes a highly efficient noble-metal-free catalyst for nitroarenes coupling to valuable azo products but also may inspire more scientific interest in the study of the dynamic evolution of metal nitrides in different catalytic reactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xianting Du
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Key Laboratory of Functional Inorganic Material Chemistry of Anhui Province, Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Chemistry for Inorganic/Organic Hybrid Functionalized Materials, Key Laboratory of Structure and Functional Regulation of Hybrid Materials of Ministry of Education, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China
| | - Wanchun Duan
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Science and Technology of China, 96 Jinzhai Road, Hefei 230026, China
| | - Yanan Gao
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Key Laboratory of Functional Inorganic Material Chemistry of Anhui Province, Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Chemistry for Inorganic/Organic Hybrid Functionalized Materials, Key Laboratory of Structure and Functional Regulation of Hybrid Materials of Ministry of Education, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China
| | - Tong Wang
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Key Laboratory of Functional Inorganic Material Chemistry of Anhui Province, Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Chemistry for Inorganic/Organic Hybrid Functionalized Materials, Key Laboratory of Structure and Functional Regulation of Hybrid Materials of Ministry of Education, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China
| | - Tairan Li
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Key Laboratory of Functional Inorganic Material Chemistry of Anhui Province, Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Chemistry for Inorganic/Organic Hybrid Functionalized Materials, Key Laboratory of Structure and Functional Regulation of Hybrid Materials of Ministry of Education, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China
| | - Yunxiang Lin
- Institute of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China
| | - Zhi-Peng Yu
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Key Laboratory of Functional Inorganic Material Chemistry of Anhui Province, Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Chemistry for Inorganic/Organic Hybrid Functionalized Materials, Key Laboratory of Structure and Functional Regulation of Hybrid Materials of Ministry of Education, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China
- Institute of Physical Science and Information Technology, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China
| | - Kun Xu
- School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Key Laboratory of Functional Inorganic Material Chemistry of Anhui Province, Anhui Province Key Laboratory of Chemistry for Inorganic/Organic Hybrid Functionalized Materials, Key Laboratory of Structure and Functional Regulation of Hybrid Materials of Ministry of Education, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China
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