Highly Chemoselective Reduction of Nitroarenes Using a Titania‐Supported Platinum‐Nanoparticle Catalyst under a CO Atmosphere

Abstract

AbstractThe discovery that supported gold catalysts can promote CO/H2O‐mediated reduction at ambient temperatures is important to chemoselective synthesis and has gained significant attention in recent years. Whether the alternative Pt group metal (PGM) catalysts can exhibit such exceptional performance is thus an interesting research issue. So far, no PGM catalyst shows activity for CO/H2O‐mediated reduction at ambient temperatures. Here, we demonstrate that it is possible to transform nonactive into highly active and selective catalysts for CO/H2O‐mediated reduction by modulating the interfacial structure and electronic properties at the metal‐support interfaces. Thus, highly active and chemoselective hydrogenation Pt, Ir, Rh and Pd catalysts can be prepared by decorating the exposed metal faces with partially reduced support species by means of a simple catalyst activation procedure. In this way, it has been possible to dramatically facilitate the previously unappreciated PGM‐catalyzed activation of CO molecules under mild conditions, which can make a significant contribution not only to reveal the intrinsic catalytic potential of supported PGMs but also to establish a more sustainable and industrially‐relevant process.