One-pot redox synthesis of Pt/Fe3O4 catalyst for efficiently chemoselective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde

Abstract

External additives (i.e., ionic electride donors) are usually necessary to obtain a high catalytic performance in an electron-density-dependent chemoselective hydrogenation reaction. Here, a sphere-shaped Pt/Fe₃O₄ catalyst is prepared through a one-pot redox reaction using Pt(IV) and Fe(II) precursors. The experimental results show that the prepared Pt/Fe₃O₄ catalyst with an Fe to Pt mole ratio of 100 : 1 can afford a high conversion of 94.2% towards cinnamaldehyde (CAL) and good selectivity of 92.2% towards cinnamyl alcohol (COL) under the mild conditions of 303 K, 5 bar H₂ for 150 min in the chemoselective reduction of CAL. The excellent catalytic performance could be attributed to the dissociation of H₂ and adsorption of CAL via a vertical configuration modulated by the electronic effect between Pt and Fe₃O₄, and the abundant available active sites induced by uniformly dispersed Pt nanoparticles. Additionally, the intrinsic magnetism of Fe₃O₄ nanospheres endows the catalyst with a rapid separation property, favourable for repeated use of a catalyst.