Visible-Light-Induced Catalytic Transfer Hydrogenation of Aromatic Aldehydes by Palladium Immobilized on Amine-Functionalized Iron-Based Metal–Organic Frameworks

Abstract

Visible-light-induced selective transfer hydrogenation of aromatic aldehyde to the corresponding alcohol was achieved by using Pd nanocatalyst supported on amine-functionalized iron-based metal–organic frameworks [Pd/MIL-101(Fe)-NH2] with triethylamine (TEA) as an electron donor and HCOOH as a proton source. The Pd/MIL-101(Fe)-NH2, obtained by an in situ photodeposition method, showed homogeneously and highly dispersed Pd nanoparticles (NPs) with a uniform size throughout the MIL-101(Fe)-NH2 support due to an effective stabilization role of amine groups on the backbone linkage of MIL-101(Fe)-NH2. The resulting Pd/MIL-101(Fe)-NH2 exhibited excellent catalytic performance toward a visible-light-induced transfer hydrogenation of benzaldehyde by producing a benzyl alcohol yield of 77% with a full benzaldehyde conversion in the presence of TEA-HCOOH. In addition to benzaldehyde, biomass-based renewable platform molecules such as furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) were successively converted into the co...