Cu2+@metal–organic framework-derived amphiphilic sandwich catalysts for enhanced hydrogenation selectivity of ketenes at the oil–water interface

Abstract

Selective catalysis has always been an essential process for manufacturing various fine chemicals, such as food additives, pharmaceuticals and perfumes. Practically, pure target products are difficult to obtain even after complex purification procedures during industrial production. The development of a cost-effective, highly chemoselective and long-life catalyst may be an attractive solution, but such a catalyst is elusive. Herein, a novel class of amphiphilic N-doped carbon (NC), featuring graphitic carbon (GC) and highly dispersed Cu@Co NPs, was fabricated via simple calcination of a Cu²⁺-doped bimetallic metal–organic framework (MOF) precusor directly. Compared with monometallic Co@GC/NC, the side reaction of CO bond hydrogenation is obviously restrained, and thus, pure target product can be systematically obtained by Cu@Co@GC/NC, highlighting the high selectivity of Cu. More importantly, an amphiphilic characteristic in Cu@Co@GC/NC is a significant knob to integrate organic substrates with water very well. This amphiphilic material shows great potential as a field-deployable pathway for dispersible metal catalysts in organic systems.