Frontiers in Chemistry (Sep 2021)

Plasmonic Heating-Promoted Photothermal Synthesis of α-Cyanoacrylonitriles Over Au/h-BN Catalysts

  • Ce Liang,
  • Yuanyuan Zhang,
  • Bin Zhang,
  • Xin-Miao Liu,
  • Guo-Lin Gao,
  • Jingyan Cao,
  • Ping Xu

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fchem.2021.732162
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9

Abstract

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Plasmonic nanoparticle-involved materials play an essential role in the field of photothermal conversion. Herein, we report the application of photothermal heterogeneous catalysts consisting of gold nanoparticles decorated on defect-rich h-BN sheets (Au/h-BN) for the photocatalytic synthesis of α-cyanoacrylonitriles under mild conditions. It has been demonstrated the–NH2 groups present in the defect-rich h-BN act as the catalytically active sites, while plasmonic heating from the gold nanoparticles can drive the reaction by providing local heat. Au/h-BN catalyst can work for a broad substrate scope in the synthesis of α-cyanoacrylonitriles, and a plausible –NH2 group-involved reaction mechanism has been proposed. This work may open up new avenues in photothermal catalysis by combining plasmonic materials and catalytic sites in one system.

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