Constructing Cu+ and Lewis acid sites enabling the generation of highly reactive N‑oxyl radical for the efficient aerobic oxidation of alkylarenes

Abstract

Developing heterogeneous catalytic systems with high performance for the oxygenation of C(sp3)–H bonds to carbonyls using molecular oxygen as the oxidant is highly desirable. In the present research, active Cu+ sites have been efficiently constructed based on layered double hydroxides (LDHs) through in-situ reduction during the coprecipitation. Simultaneously, the formed CuZn(Mg)Al-LDH(R) catalysts demonstrated the characters of increased amount of oxygen vacancy and surface Lewis acid site. The newly synthesized catalysts exhibited higher catalytic performance than the samples prepared via conventional method, and up to 49.4% improvement in specific activity was observed in the aerobic oxidation of ethylbenzene. The mechanism study including a series of control experiments, semi-in-situ FT-IR analysis, and EPR analysis, demonstrated that reactive •O2– species generated via the acceleration of Cu+ species, and activated the NHPI (N-hydroxyphthalimide) molecule to form active PINO (phthalimide N-oxyl) species. The oxygen vacancy was verified to be able to activate O2 molecule and promote the formation of active 1O2 species. The surface Lewis acid site was proposed to interact with NHPI molecule, enabling the generation of highly active PINO species. The catalytic system also has the advantages of catalytical and structural stability, recyclability, and tolerance of wide substrate scope. We believe that the synergistic effect between the highly active sites and Lewis acid sites in catalyst can open up new opportunities for the activation of inert C–H bonds via O2/NHPI system.