MOF-based core-shell structures with high surface area, abundant active sites, and broad absorption bands are viable alternatives to traditional single-component photocatalysts. In this report, we describe the design ...MOF-based core-shell structures with high surface area, abundant active sites, and broad absorption bands are viable alternatives to traditional single-component photocatalysts. In this report, we describe the design and construction of delicate Ag nanowires@NH_(2)-UiO-66 with a core-shell structure for use as photocatalysts in imine synthesis under light. The optimized composites exhibited 80% imine production, which was higher than both MOF and Ag NWs. The significant improvement in photocatalytic activity under light may be attributed to the plasmonic effect of silver nanowires and their core-shell structure, which promotes the separation of electron-hole pairs. Moreover, the photocatalytic activity of the core-shell nanostructure may provide valuable insight into the design and construction of MOF-based composite photocatalysts for oxidative coupling of amines.展开更多
A simple and rapid protocol for the synthesis of polystyrene-graphene oxide nanocomposite (PS/GONC) was achieved for first time using an in situ polymerization method. PS/GONC modified glassy carbon electrode (PS/G...A simple and rapid protocol for the synthesis of polystyrene-graphene oxide nanocomposite (PS/GONC) was achieved for first time using an in situ polymerization method. PS/GONC modified glassy carbon electrode (PS/GONC/GCE) has been employed as an efficient nanosensor for the electrooxidation of histamine. The PS/GONC/GCE is used as an electrochemical nanosensors for monitoring histamine using differential pulse voltammetry techniques (detection limit 0.03 μmol/L). In addition, the prepared nanosensor was successfully applied to determine histamine in fish samples, yielding satisfactory results. The spiked recoveries were in the range of 98.2%-103.1%.展开更多
Photocatalytic oxidation coupling of amines represents a green and cost-effective method for the synthesis of highly value-added imines under visible light irradiation.However,the catalytic efficiency was severely lim...Photocatalytic oxidation coupling of amines represents a green and cost-effective method for the synthesis of highly value-added imines under visible light irradiation.However,the catalytic efficiency was severely limited by poor visible light response and easy recombination of photogenerated charge carriers.Herein,we report a g-CgN_(4)/α-Bi_(2)O_(3)Z-scheme heterojunction via electrostatic self-assembly of g-C_(3)N_(4)nanosheets and oxygen-va-cancy-rich aα-Bi_(2)O_(3)microsphere for visible-light driven oxidative coupling of amines to imines in H_(2)0 as green solvent at room temperature.Amines with diverse functional groups were efficiently converted into the corre-sponding imines in good to excellent yields.Impressively,this photocatalytic protocol is applicable for the challenging hetero-coupling of two structurally different amines to construct complicated asymmetric imines,which is the first report of photocatalytic hetero-coupling of amines to imines to our knowledge.Furthermore,the Z-scheme heterojunction also demonstrated high stability and could be readily separated and reused without obvious decay in activity and selectivity.Comprehensive characterizations and control experiments reveal the construction of Z-scheme heterojunction with intimate interface between g-CgN4 and a-Bi_(2)O_(3)greatly boosts the transfer and separation of photogenerated charge carries and enhances the redox capability.Meanwhile,the surface oxygen vacancies in a-Biz_(2)O_(3)also benefits the separation of photogenerated charge carriers and acti-vation of reactants.These jointly contributed to an enhanced photocatalytic performance for oxidative coupling of amines to imines.展开更多
Polymers are usually restricted on the high exciton binding energies and sluggish electron transfer because of the low dielectric constants.Regulating spin-polarized electrons is regarded as an attractive strategy,but...Polymers are usually restricted on the high exciton binding energies and sluggish electron transfer because of the low dielectric constants.Regulating spin-polarized electrons is regarded as an attractive strategy,but often confined to the d-orbital elements.Here,the nonmetal P and N elements co-mediated the spin polarization of carbon nitrides(PCN)have been elaborately designed.The optimized PCN-3 shows an outstanding hydrogen production(22.2 mmol·g^(-1)·h^(-1))coupled with selective benzylamine oxidation without using any solvent and cocatalysts,which is 200 times of original C_(3)N_(4)and superior to the photocatalysts has been reported to date.Experimental and theoretical results verified that the spin-orbital coupling of N 2p and P 2p remarkably increased the parallel spin states of charge and reduced the formation of singlet excitons to accelerate exciton dissociation in carbon nitride.In addition,charge separation and surface catalysis can be significantly enhanced by the electron spin polarization of carbon nitride with the parallel arrangement,huge built-in electric field and disturbed electronic structure.Our finding deepens the insight into the charge separation and exciton dissociation in spin polarization,and offers new tactics to develop high-efficiency catalysts.展开更多
Spatial separation of oxidation/reduction cocatalyst is an effective means to improve the efficiency of charge separation in photocatalytic reaction systems.Herein,a yolk-shell Pd@NH_(2)-UiO-66@Cu_(2)O heterojunction ...Spatial separation of oxidation/reduction cocatalyst is an effective means to improve the efficiency of charge separation in photocatalytic reaction systems.Herein,a yolk-shell Pd@NH_(2)-UiO-66@Cu_(2)O heterojunction was designed and synthesized by integration of electron collector Pd and hole collector Cu_(2)O inside and outside of a photoactive metal-organic framework(MOF)NH_(2)-UiO-66,respectively.The obtained Pd@NH_(2)-UiO-66@Cu_(2)O heterojunction effectively inhibits the electron and hole recombination through the photo-induced electrons and holes flow inward and outward of the composite,and promotes the reduction and oxidation abilities for the oxidative coupling of benzylamine to imines.Compared with Pd/NH_(2)-UiO-66@Cu_(2)O,Pd@NH_(2)-UiO-66,and Pd/NH_(2)-UiO-66,Pd@NH_(2)-UiO-66@Cu_(2)O exhibits the highest photocatalytic activity.More importantly,Pd@NH_(2)-UiO-66@Cu_(2)O shows a conversion rate of benzylamine up to 99%either by oxidation under aerobic conditions or by strong adsorption of H atom(Hads)under anaerobic conditions.In addition,the catalyst shows good stability and can be recycled at least ten times.This work provides useful guidance on construction of MOFs-based composites with spatially separated photoinduced charge carriers to realize efficient oxidation coupling of benzylamine in both aerobic and anaerobic conditions.展开更多
The performance applications(e.g.,photocatalysis)of zirconium(Zr)and hafnium(Hf)based complexes are greatly hindered by the limited development of their structures and the relatively inert metal reactivity.In this wor...The performance applications(e.g.,photocatalysis)of zirconium(Zr)and hafnium(Hf)based complexes are greatly hindered by the limited development of their structures and the relatively inert metal reactivity.In this work,we constructed two ultrastable Zr/Hf-based clusters(Zr_(9)-TC4A and Hf_(9)-TC4A)using hydrophobic 4-tert-butylthiacalix[4]arene(H4TC4A)ligands,in which unsaturated coordinated sulfur(S)atoms on the TC4A^(4-)ligand can generate strong metal–ligand synergy with nearby active metal Zr/Hf sites.As a result,these two functionalized H4TC4A ligands modified Zr/Hf-oxo clusters,as catalysts for the amine oxidation reaction,exhibited excellent catalytic activity,achieving very high substrate conversion(>99%)and product selectivity(>90%).Combining comparative experiments and theoretical calculations,we found that these Zr/Hf-based cluster catalysts accomplish efficient amine oxidation reactions through synergistic effect between metals and ligands:(i)The photocatalytic benzylamine(BA)oxidation reaction was achieved by the synergistic effect of the dual active sites,in which,the naked S sites on the TC4A^(4-)ligand oxidize the BA by photogenerated hole and oxygen molecules are reduced by photogenerated electrons on the metal active sites;(ii)in the aniline oxidation reaction,aniline was adsorbed by the bare S sites on ligands to be closer to metal active sites and then oxidized by the oxygen-containing radicals activated by the metal sites,thus completing the catalytic reaction under the synergistic catalytic effect of the proximity metal–ligand.In this work,the Zr/Hf-based complexes applied in the oxidation of organic amines have been realized using active S atom-directed metal–ligand synergistic catalysis and have demonstrated very high reactivity.展开更多
Polymeric carbon nitride(CN)as a metal-free photocatalyst holds great promise to produce high-value chemicals and H_(2) fuel utilizing clean solar energy.However,the wider deployment of pristine CN is critically hampe...Polymeric carbon nitride(CN)as a metal-free photocatalyst holds great promise to produce high-value chemicals and H_(2) fuel utilizing clean solar energy.However,the wider deployment of pristine CN is critically hampered by the poor charge carrier transport and high recombination.Herein,we develop a facile salt template-assisted interfacial polymerization strategy that insitu introduces alkali ions(Na+,K+)and nitrogen defects in CN(denoted as v-CN-KNa)to simultaneously promote charge separation and transportation and steer photoexcited holes and electrons to their oxidation and reduction sites.The photocatalyst exhibits an impressive photocatalytic H_(2) evolution rate of 8641.5μmol·g^(−1)·h^(−1)(33-fold higher than pristine CN)and also works readily in real seawater(10752.0μmol·g^(−1)·h^(−1))with a high apparent quantum efficiency up to 18.5%at 420 nm.In addition,we further demonstrate that the v-CN-KNa can simultaneously produce H_(2) and N-benzylidenebenzylamine without using any other sacrificial reagent.In situ characterizations and DFT calculations reveal that the alkali ions notably promote charge transport,while the nitrogen defects generate abundant edge active sites,which further contribute to efficient electron excitation to trigger photoredox reactions.展开更多
A triformylphloroglucinol-based AiB2-typed covalent organic polymer(TFG-BPTH)was successfully constructed by the condensation reaction of triformylphloroglucinol(TFG)and 2.5-bis(2-propynyloxy)terephthalo-hydrazide(BPT...A triformylphloroglucinol-based AiB2-typed covalent organic polymer(TFG-BPTH)was successfully constructed by the condensation reaction of triformylphloroglucinol(TFG)and 2.5-bis(2-propynyloxy)terephthalo-hydrazide(BPTH)under solvothermal conditions.The structure of the TFG-BPTH was confirmed by spectra tech-niques including FTIR and solid-state IC CP/MAS NMR spectroscopy.The mophological features of TFG-BPTH were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy(SEM)and transmission electron microscopy(TEM).The TFG-BPTH possessed good thermal and chemical stability,and exhibited good photocatalytic activity as a metal-free heterogeneous catalyst for oxidation of amines to valuable imines under visible light irradiation using O2 as greer oxidant.In addition,the catalyst could be readily recovered from the reaction mixture by simple filtration and reused for at least five cycles without any observable change in structure and catalytic activity.展开更多
By screening the copper catalysts,ligands,and the reaction conditions,a simple CuCl/DMEDA/TEMPO catalyst system readily available from commercial sources is developed for a direct and selective synthesis of the useful...By screening the copper catalysts,ligands,and the reaction conditions,a simple CuCl/DMEDA/TEMPO catalyst system readily available from commercial sources is developed for a direct and selective synthesis of the useful nitriles by an aerobic oxidation reaction of primary amines using air as an advantageous oxidant under mild conditions.展开更多
A facile,efficient and substrate-selective oxidation of the primary amines with NaClO as oxidant catalyzed by β-cyclodextrin(β-CD)has been developed in water for the first time,and the behavior of β-cyclodextrin th...A facile,efficient and substrate-selective oxidation of the primary amines with NaClO as oxidant catalyzed by β-cyclodextrin(β-CD)has been developed in water for the first time,and the behavior of β-cyclodextrin that catalyzed the primary amines to nitriles in water was investigated.It was found that the primary amines which could form host-guest complexes with β-cyclodextrin were oxidized to nitriles with excellent yields at ambient temperature.The results show that β-cyclodextrin worked not only as a solubilizing agent but also as a catalyst in these reactions.展开更多
Quinoproteins are an important type of redox enzymes for biological oxidation processes. Inspired by the quinone cofactors, particularly from copper amine oxidases, a number of small molecular quinone catalysts have b...Quinoproteins are an important type of redox enzymes for biological oxidation processes. Inspired by the quinone cofactors, particularly from copper amine oxidases, a number of small molecular quinone catalysts have been developed for C-H functionalizations of amines. Bio-inspired quinone catalysts have significantly expanded the substrate scope to include branched primary amines, secondary amines and tertiary amines, far beyond the scope of quinoproteins. This review summarizes the evolution of quinone catalysts, their mechanism and catalytic applications.展开更多
基金the Fujian Science Technology Innovation Laboratory for Optoelectronic Information of China (Nos.2021ZR105 and 2021ZZ103)financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos.22071246 and22033008)。
文摘MOF-based core-shell structures with high surface area, abundant active sites, and broad absorption bands are viable alternatives to traditional single-component photocatalysts. In this report, we describe the design and construction of delicate Ag nanowires@NH_(2)-UiO-66 with a core-shell structure for use as photocatalysts in imine synthesis under light. The optimized composites exhibited 80% imine production, which was higher than both MOF and Ag NWs. The significant improvement in photocatalytic activity under light may be attributed to the plasmonic effect of silver nanowires and their core-shell structure, which promotes the separation of electron-hole pairs. Moreover, the photocatalytic activity of the core-shell nanostructure may provide valuable insight into the design and construction of MOF-based composite photocatalysts for oxidative coupling of amines.
基金the support of this work by Drug Applied Research Center,Tabriz University of Medical Science and Payame Noor University
文摘A simple and rapid protocol for the synthesis of polystyrene-graphene oxide nanocomposite (PS/GONC) was achieved for first time using an in situ polymerization method. PS/GONC modified glassy carbon electrode (PS/GONC/GCE) has been employed as an efficient nanosensor for the electrooxidation of histamine. The PS/GONC/GCE is used as an electrochemical nanosensors for monitoring histamine using differential pulse voltammetry techniques (detection limit 0.03 μmol/L). In addition, the prepared nanosensor was successfully applied to determine histamine in fish samples, yielding satisfactory results. The spiked recoveries were in the range of 98.2%-103.1%.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.22078350)the Natural Science Foundation of Shandong Province(ZR2020KB016)Shandong Energy Institute Fund(Grant no.SEII202138).
文摘Photocatalytic oxidation coupling of amines represents a green and cost-effective method for the synthesis of highly value-added imines under visible light irradiation.However,the catalytic efficiency was severely limited by poor visible light response and easy recombination of photogenerated charge carriers.Herein,we report a g-CgN_(4)/α-Bi_(2)O_(3)Z-scheme heterojunction via electrostatic self-assembly of g-C_(3)N_(4)nanosheets and oxygen-va-cancy-rich aα-Bi_(2)O_(3)microsphere for visible-light driven oxidative coupling of amines to imines in H_(2)0 as green solvent at room temperature.Amines with diverse functional groups were efficiently converted into the corre-sponding imines in good to excellent yields.Impressively,this photocatalytic protocol is applicable for the challenging hetero-coupling of two structurally different amines to construct complicated asymmetric imines,which is the first report of photocatalytic hetero-coupling of amines to imines to our knowledge.Furthermore,the Z-scheme heterojunction also demonstrated high stability and could be readily separated and reused without obvious decay in activity and selectivity.Comprehensive characterizations and control experiments reveal the construction of Z-scheme heterojunction with intimate interface between g-CgN4 and a-Bi_(2)O_(3)greatly boosts the transfer and separation of photogenerated charge carries and enhances the redox capability.Meanwhile,the surface oxygen vacancies in a-Biz_(2)O_(3)also benefits the separation of photogenerated charge carriers and acti-vation of reactants.These jointly contributed to an enhanced photocatalytic performance for oxidative coupling of amines to imines.
基金financially supported by Guizhou Provincial Science and Technology Foundation(No.ZK2021069)Young Science and Technology Talents Development Project of Education Department in Guizhou Province(No.KY2022144)National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.22268015).
文摘Polymers are usually restricted on the high exciton binding energies and sluggish electron transfer because of the low dielectric constants.Regulating spin-polarized electrons is regarded as an attractive strategy,but often confined to the d-orbital elements.Here,the nonmetal P and N elements co-mediated the spin polarization of carbon nitrides(PCN)have been elaborately designed.The optimized PCN-3 shows an outstanding hydrogen production(22.2 mmol·g^(-1)·h^(-1))coupled with selective benzylamine oxidation without using any solvent and cocatalysts,which is 200 times of original C_(3)N_(4)and superior to the photocatalysts has been reported to date.Experimental and theoretical results verified that the spin-orbital coupling of N 2p and P 2p remarkably increased the parallel spin states of charge and reduced the formation of singlet excitons to accelerate exciton dissociation in carbon nitride.In addition,charge separation and surface catalysis can be significantly enhanced by the electron spin polarization of carbon nitride with the parallel arrangement,huge built-in electric field and disturbed electronic structure.Our finding deepens the insight into the charge separation and exciton dissociation in spin polarization,and offers new tactics to develop high-efficiency catalysts.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.21771163 and 22171247)Zhongyuan thousand talents project.
文摘Spatial separation of oxidation/reduction cocatalyst is an effective means to improve the efficiency of charge separation in photocatalytic reaction systems.Herein,a yolk-shell Pd@NH_(2)-UiO-66@Cu_(2)O heterojunction was designed and synthesized by integration of electron collector Pd and hole collector Cu_(2)O inside and outside of a photoactive metal-organic framework(MOF)NH_(2)-UiO-66,respectively.The obtained Pd@NH_(2)-UiO-66@Cu_(2)O heterojunction effectively inhibits the electron and hole recombination through the photo-induced electrons and holes flow inward and outward of the composite,and promotes the reduction and oxidation abilities for the oxidative coupling of benzylamine to imines.Compared with Pd/NH_(2)-UiO-66@Cu_(2)O,Pd@NH_(2)-UiO-66,and Pd/NH_(2)-UiO-66,Pd@NH_(2)-UiO-66@Cu_(2)O exhibits the highest photocatalytic activity.More importantly,Pd@NH_(2)-UiO-66@Cu_(2)O shows a conversion rate of benzylamine up to 99%either by oxidation under aerobic conditions or by strong adsorption of H atom(Hads)under anaerobic conditions.In addition,the catalyst shows good stability and can be recycled at least ten times.This work provides useful guidance on construction of MOFs-based composites with spatially separated photoinduced charge carriers to realize efficient oxidation coupling of benzylamine in both aerobic and anaerobic conditions.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(22225109,92061101,22071109,and 22101089)the Top Youth Project of Guangdong Province Pearl River Talents Program(2021QN02L617)+2 种基金the Excellent Youth Foundation of Jiangsu Provincial Natural Science Foundation(BK20211593)the Open Fund of Energy and Materials Chemistry Joint Laboratory of South China Normal University and Guangzhou Tinci Materials Technology(SCNU-TINCI-202204)Guangdong Provincial Basic and Applied Basic Research Foundation(2023A1515030097 and 2020A1515110836).
文摘The performance applications(e.g.,photocatalysis)of zirconium(Zr)and hafnium(Hf)based complexes are greatly hindered by the limited development of their structures and the relatively inert metal reactivity.In this work,we constructed two ultrastable Zr/Hf-based clusters(Zr_(9)-TC4A and Hf_(9)-TC4A)using hydrophobic 4-tert-butylthiacalix[4]arene(H4TC4A)ligands,in which unsaturated coordinated sulfur(S)atoms on the TC4A^(4-)ligand can generate strong metal–ligand synergy with nearby active metal Zr/Hf sites.As a result,these two functionalized H4TC4A ligands modified Zr/Hf-oxo clusters,as catalysts for the amine oxidation reaction,exhibited excellent catalytic activity,achieving very high substrate conversion(>99%)and product selectivity(>90%).Combining comparative experiments and theoretical calculations,we found that these Zr/Hf-based cluster catalysts accomplish efficient amine oxidation reactions through synergistic effect between metals and ligands:(i)The photocatalytic benzylamine(BA)oxidation reaction was achieved by the synergistic effect of the dual active sites,in which,the naked S sites on the TC4A^(4-)ligand oxidize the BA by photogenerated hole and oxygen molecules are reduced by photogenerated electrons on the metal active sites;(ii)in the aniline oxidation reaction,aniline was adsorbed by the bare S sites on ligands to be closer to metal active sites and then oxidized by the oxygen-containing radicals activated by the metal sites,thus completing the catalytic reaction under the synergistic catalytic effect of the proximity metal–ligand.In this work,the Zr/Hf-based complexes applied in the oxidation of organic amines have been realized using active S atom-directed metal–ligand synergistic catalysis and have demonstrated very high reactivity.
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of the MOST(Nos.2021YFA1500400 and 2018YFA0208603)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(NSFC,Nos.21571167,51502282,22075266,and 21890751)the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities(Nos.WK2060190053 and WK2060190100).
文摘Polymeric carbon nitride(CN)as a metal-free photocatalyst holds great promise to produce high-value chemicals and H_(2) fuel utilizing clean solar energy.However,the wider deployment of pristine CN is critically hampered by the poor charge carrier transport and high recombination.Herein,we develop a facile salt template-assisted interfacial polymerization strategy that insitu introduces alkali ions(Na+,K+)and nitrogen defects in CN(denoted as v-CN-KNa)to simultaneously promote charge separation and transportation and steer photoexcited holes and electrons to their oxidation and reduction sites.The photocatalyst exhibits an impressive photocatalytic H_(2) evolution rate of 8641.5μmol·g^(−1)·h^(−1)(33-fold higher than pristine CN)and also works readily in real seawater(10752.0μmol·g^(−1)·h^(−1))with a high apparent quantum efficiency up to 18.5%at 420 nm.In addition,we further demonstrate that the v-CN-KNa can simultaneously produce H_(2) and N-benzylidenebenzylamine without using any other sacrificial reagent.In situ characterizations and DFT calculations reveal that the alkali ions notably promote charge transport,while the nitrogen defects generate abundant edge active sites,which further contribute to efficient electron excitation to trigger photoredox reactions.
基金Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.51703076).
文摘A triformylphloroglucinol-based AiB2-typed covalent organic polymer(TFG-BPTH)was successfully constructed by the condensation reaction of triformylphloroglucinol(TFG)and 2.5-bis(2-propynyloxy)terephthalo-hydrazide(BPTH)under solvothermal conditions.The structure of the TFG-BPTH was confirmed by spectra tech-niques including FTIR and solid-state IC CP/MAS NMR spectroscopy.The mophological features of TFG-BPTH were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy(SEM)and transmission electron microscopy(TEM).The TFG-BPTH possessed good thermal and chemical stability,and exhibited good photocatalytic activity as a metal-free heterogeneous catalyst for oxidation of amines to valuable imines under visible light irradiation using O2 as greer oxidant.In addition,the catalyst could be readily recovered from the reaction mixture by simple filtration and reused for at least five cycles without any observable change in structure and catalytic activity.
基金NNSFC(Nos.51502174,21672163)ZJNSF(No.LR14B020002)+2 种基金Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China(Nos.2015 M582401,2016M592520)for financial supportpartially supported by Science and Technology Project of Shenzhen(Nos.JCYJ20150324141711616,JCYJ20150626090504916)Science and Technology Planning Project of Guangdong Province(No.2016B050501005)
文摘By screening the copper catalysts,ligands,and the reaction conditions,a simple CuCl/DMEDA/TEMPO catalyst system readily available from commercial sources is developed for a direct and selective synthesis of the useful nitriles by an aerobic oxidation reaction of primary amines using air as an advantageous oxidant under mild conditions.
基金The authors thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Grant No.20776053)the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University(NCET-06-740)for providing financial support for this project.
文摘A facile,efficient and substrate-selective oxidation of the primary amines with NaClO as oxidant catalyzed by β-cyclodextrin(β-CD)has been developed in water for the first time,and the behavior of β-cyclodextrin that catalyzed the primary amines to nitriles in water was investigated.It was found that the primary amines which could form host-guest complexes with β-cyclodextrin were oxidized to nitriles with excellent yields at ambient temperature.The results show that β-cyclodextrin worked not only as a solubilizing agent but also as a catalyst in these reactions.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, Nos. 21390400 and 21521002)the Ministry of Science and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (No. QYZDJSSWSLH023)for generous financial supportsupported by National Program for Support of Top-notch Young Professionals and CAS onehundred talented program (D)
文摘Quinoproteins are an important type of redox enzymes for biological oxidation processes. Inspired by the quinone cofactors, particularly from copper amine oxidases, a number of small molecular quinone catalysts have been developed for C-H functionalizations of amines. Bio-inspired quinone catalysts have significantly expanded the substrate scope to include branched primary amines, secondary amines and tertiary amines, far beyond the scope of quinoproteins. This review summarizes the evolution of quinone catalysts, their mechanism and catalytic applications.