Fe‐Co Alloyed Nanoparticles Catalyzing Efficient Hydrogenation of Cinnamaldehyde to Cinnamyl Alcohol in Water

• Published in: Angewandte Chemie International Edition Vol. 59; no. 52; pp. 23521 - 23526
• Main Authors: Lv, Yang, Han, Miaomiao, Gong, Wanbing, Wang, Dongdong, Chen, Chun, Wang, Guozhong, Zhang, Haimin, Zhao, Huijun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Germany Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 21.12.2020
• Edition: International ed. in English
• Subjects: Alloying; Catalysts; Cinnamaldehyde; Cobalt base alloys; Fe-Co nanoalloys; H2O solvent; Hydrogenation; Iron; metal–organic frameworks; Nanoalloys; Nanoparticles; Organic solvents; selective hydrogenation; Selectivity; Synergism; cinnamaldehyde; selective hydrogenation; Fe-Co nanoalloys; H2O solvent; metal-organic frameworks
• ISSN: 1433-7851; 1521-3773
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.202009913

Selective hydrogenation of C=O against the conjugated C=C in cinnamaldehyde (CAL) is indispensable to produce cinnamyl alcohol (COL). Nonetheless, it is challenged by the low selectivity and the need to use organic solvents. Herein, for the first time, we report the use of Fe‐Co alloy nanoparticles (NPs) on N‐doped carbon support as a selective hydrogenation catalyst to efficiently convert CAL to COL. The resultant catalyst with the optimized Fe/Co ratio of 0.5 can achieve an exceptional COL selectivity of 91.7 % at a CAL conversion of 95.1 % in pure water medium under mild reaction conditions, ranking it the best performed catalyst reported to date. The experimental results confirm that the COL selectivity and CAL conversion efficiency are, respectively promoted by the presence of Fe and Co, while the synergism of the alloyed Fe‐Co is the key to concurrently achieve high COL selectivity and CAL conversion efficiency. A bimetallic Fe‐Co alloying strategy is innovatively utilized to concurrently enhance the selectivity and conversion efficiency for selective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde to cinnamyl alcohol in water. A Fe‐Co alloy catalyst with a Fe/Co molar ratio of 0.5 achieves an exceptional selectivity of 91.7 % at 95.1 % conversion.