Metal-free activation of dioxygen by graphene/g-C3N4 nanocomposites: functional dyads for selective oxidation of saturated hydrocarbons

Xin-Hao Li; Jie-Sheng Chen; Xinchen Wang; Jianhua Sun; Markus Antonietti

doi:10.1021/ja200997a

Metal-free activation of dioxygen by graphene/g-C3N4 nanocomposites: functional dyads for selective oxidation of saturated hydrocarbons

J Am Chem Soc. 2011 Jun 1;133(21):8074-7. doi: 10.1021/ja200997a. Epub 2011 May 11.

Authors

Xin-Hao Li¹, Jie-Sheng Chen, Xinchen Wang, Jianhua Sun, Markus Antonietti

Affiliation

¹ Department of Colloid Chemistry, Max-Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Research Campus Golm, 14424 Postdam, Germany. Xin-Hao.Li@mpikg.mpg.de

PMID: 21561075
DOI: 10.1021/ja200997a

Abstract

Graphene sheet/polymeric carbon nitride nanocomposite (GSCN) functions as a metal-free catalyst to activate O(2) for the selective oxidation of secondary C-H bonds of cyclohexane. By fine-tuning the weight ratio of graphene and carbon nitride components, GSCN offers good conversion and high selectivity to corresponding ketones. Besides its high stability, this catalyst also exhibits high chemoselectivity for secondary C-H bonds of various saturated alkanes and, therefore, should be useful in overcoming challenges confronted by metal-mediated catalysis.