Facile synthesis of a Ru-based polyoxometalate for efficient reduction of nitrobenzene

Abstract

A non-classical Ru-based polyoxometalate, NaH₂[{Ru^IV(bpy)Cl}₂O(PW₁₁O₃₉)]·10H₂O (1), was successfully constructed from mono-vacant heteropolytungstates [PW₁₁O₃₉]⁷⁻ and [Ru^IV(bpy)Cl]³⁺. Compound 1 has strong light trapping ability, and the yield of aniline reduced from nitrobenzene under visible light (λ > 400 nm) can reach 99.8%. In addition, a range of extended experiments have demonstrated that compound 1 is an effective and stable heterogeneous catalyst in the reaction of nitrobenzene reduction.