A highly efficient defective carbon catalyst for oxidative coupling of amines

Abstract

Porous carbons were prepared from tea peels, and employed as the catalyst for oxidative coupling of benzylamine. An optimal tea peel carbon (TPC-2-800) shows large specific surface area of 1715 m2 g−1 and excellent catalytic performance for benzylamine oxidation. At 70 °C and ambient air conditions, the yield of imine can get to 99%. Further investigations suggest the outstanding performance can be attributed to the high specific surface area and rich edge defects, which help the adsorption and dissociation of molecular oxygen. This work provides a reference for the application of biomass carbon materials in aerobic oxidation reactions.

Keywords

• Porous carbon
• Tea peels
• Surface defects
• Metal-free catalysts
• Benzylamine oxidation