Controlling N-doping type in carbon to boost single-atom site Cu catalyzed transfer hydrogenation of quinoline

Single-atom site(SA)catalysts on N-doped carbon(CN)materials exhibit prominent performance for their active sites being M-Nx.Due to the commonly random doping behaviors of N species in these CN,it is a tough issue to finely regulate their doping types and clarify their effect on the catalytic property of such catalysts.Herein,we report that the N-doping type in CN can be dominated as pyrrolic-N and pyridinic-N respectively through compounding with different metal oxides.It is found that the proportion of distinct doped N species in CN depends on the acidity and basicity of compounded metal oxide host.Owing to the coordination by pyrrolic-N,the SA Cu catalyst displays an enhanced activity(two-fold)for transfer hydrogenation of quinoline to access the valuable molecule tetrahydroquinoline with a good selectivity(99%)under mild conditions.The higher electron density of SA Cu species induced by the predominate pyrrolic-N coordination benefits the hydrogen transfer process and reduces the energy barrier of the hydrogenation pathway,which accounts for the improved catalytic effeciency.