Visible-light-induced hydrogenation of biomass-based aldehydes by graphitic carbon nitride supported metal catalysts

The plasmonic photocatalyst of Pd supported on graphitic carbon nitride(Pd/g-C3N4)exhibits excellent catalytic activity in photo-induced hydrogenation of biomass-based aldehydes with environmental benign reagents of formic acid(HCOOH)as proton source and triethylamine(TEA)as sacrificial electron donator.The chemical and configurational properties of the Pd/g-C3N4 were systematically analyzed with XRD,TEM and XPS.Under optimized conditions,27%yield of furfuryl alcohol with the corresponding turnover frequency(TOF)around 3.72 h^(-1) were obtained from furfural and TEA-HCOOH under visible-light irradiation by using Pd/g-C3N4.Our research additionally reveals that Pd atom is the true catalytic active site for the hydrogenation and the photo-promoted reduction mainly occurs through noble metal nanoparticles(NPs)-induced effect of surface plasmon resonance(SPR).The photo-catalytic system of Pd/g-C3N4 thus demonstrates a green and effective method for the hydrogenation of biomass-based aldehydes with sustainable solar energy as a driven force.