Photochemically engineering the metal-semiconductor interface for room-temperature transfer hydrogenation of nitroarenes with formic acid

Abstract

A mild photochemical approach was applied to construct highly coupled metal-semiconductor dyads, which were found to efficiently facilitate the hydrogenation of nitrobenzene. Aniline was produced in excellent yield (>99 %, TOF: 1183) using formic acid as hydrogen source and water as solvent at room temperature. This general and green catalytic process is applicable to a wide range of nitroarenes without the involvement of high-pressure gases or sacrificial additives.

Keywords: formic acid; heterogeneous catalysis; hydrogenation; interfaces; sustainable chemistry.