Vicinal hydroxyl group-inspired selective oxidation of glycerol to glyceric acid on hydroxyapatite supported Pd catalyst

Selective oxidation of glycerol provides a feasible route towards the sustainable synthesis of high value-added chemicals.Herein,the hydroxyapatite(HAP)supported palladium(Pd)species were fabricated by impregnation and subsequent calcination.The as-obtained heterogeneous Pd catalyst afforded not only excellent selectivity to glyceric acid(GLA)up to 90%with 59%conversion of glycerol but also good recyclability by using molecular oxygen as an oxidant under mild conditions.The characterization of catalysts indicated that both the surface basicity and Pd sites on the catalyst played a crucial role in promoting glycerol oxidation.Notably,it demonstrated that the presence of the vicinal hydroxyl group of glycerol molecule can assist the oxidation reaction via forming a coordination between the vicinal hydroxyl group and Ca^(2+) sites on HAP-derived catalysts.In this catalytic process,the secondary hydroxyl of glycerol kept untouched and the primary hydroxyl of glycerol was converted into carboxyl group,while the Pd species acted as active centers for cooperatively promoting the subsequent oxidation to generate GLA.Additionally,this catalytic system can be extended widely for the oxidative conversion of other vicinal diols into the corresponding a-hydroxycarboxylic acids selectively.Isotope labeling experiment using H_(2)^(18)O confirmed that H_(2)O not only acted as solvent but also was involved in the catalytic cycles.On the basis of the results,a possible reaction mechanism has been proposed.The HAP-supported Pd catalytic system has been shown to serve as an effective approach for the upgrading of bio-derived vicinal diols to high value-added chemicals.

Cationic quaternary ammonium-stabilized Nb oxoclusters catalyze reductive amination of carbon dioxide with hydrosilane

The N-formylation of amines with CO_(2)and hydrosilanes is an emerging yet important reaction in fine chemical industry.Herein,we have reported a methyltrioctylammonium cation(TOMA)stabilized Nb oxocluster catalyst that can effectively realize two electron reduction of CO_(2)and form C-N bond simultaneously,leading to the corresponding formamides.The oxocluster catalyst exhibits excellent catalytic activity to transform secondary and primary amines into the corresponding formamides,with the conversion ranging from 81.5%to 99.2%under room temperature conditions.Furthermore,the Nb oxocluster catalyst shows the unique characteristics of ionic liquids,and it is highly robust and easy to be recycled for five times with negligible loss of catalytic activity.On the basis of the activity tests and structure characterization of Nb catalysts,it was found that TOMA cation played an important role in modulating the Nb oxocluster with high stability and uniform dispersion.The mechanism studies demonstrate that the formylation reaction proceeds through the formation of silyl formate intermediate rather than carbamate,and the Lewis base site of negative oxygen atoms from polyoxoniobate anions can exert a favorable impact on activation both CO_(2)and Si-H bond of PhSiH 3,allowing that N-formylation reaction proceed smoothly under very mild reaction conditions.

Catalytic transfer hydrogenolysis of C–O bonds in lignin model compounds without arene hydrogenation

The shortage of resources and the destruction of the environment have caused serious resource and environmental problems shared by all countries around the world. As a ubiquitous renewable resource, biomass has great prospects for replacing fossil energy and attracted attention from the society. The use of catalytic approach to transform biomass into high-value chemicals is an effective way to use biomass efficiently. In this work, Nisupported catalysts has been developed for the selective cleavage of C–O bonds in lignin model compounds with 2-propanol as the hydrogen source solvent. Among these catalysts, it was indicated that zirconium phosphate(Zr P)-supported Ni catalysts were highly efficient and recyclable for alkyl-aryl ether(α-O-4 and β-O-4) cleavage in lignin model compounds. The further investigation demonstrated that the transfer hydrogenolysis of the C–O bond is highly selective, which afforded phenols and aromatics as dominant products without the products arising from hydrogenation of aromatic rings. Through a series of characterization of the catalyst, it was demonstrated that the medium strong acid sites of the Zr P support promoted the cleavage of alkyl-aryl ethers(α-O-4 and β-O-4),and Br?nsted acid sites favored for achieving high selectivity toward C–O bond cleavage. Additionally, Ni(0) sites on the Zr P catalysts were responsible for the catalytic transfer hydrogenolysis.