Recent advances of titanium dioxide (TiO2) for green organic synthesis

Abstract

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) has become increasingly popular as a catalyst. Although many applications of TiO₂ involve photocatalysis and photoelectrochemical reactions, there are numerous interesting discoveries of TiO₂ for other reactions. This review focuses on the recent development of TiO₂ as a catalyst in green organic synthesis including in hydrodeoxygenation, hydrogenation, esterification/transesterification, the water–gas shift reaction, and visible light-induced organic transformation owing to its strong metal-support interaction (SMSI), high chemical stability, acidity, and high redox reaction at low temperature. The relationship between the catalytic performance and different metal or metal oxide dopants, and different polymorphs of TiO₂ are discussed in detail. It is interesting to note that the reduction temperature and addition of promoters have a significant effect on the catalytic performance of TiO₂.