Development of efficient copper-based MOF-derived catalysts for the reduction of aromatic nitro compounds

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ejic.201701320

Two Copper-based Cu3(btc)2 and Cu(Im)2 metal organic frameworks were synthesized and annealed to form nanoporous Cu/Cu2O@C and Cu@N-C nanoparticles for utilization as catalysts in the reduction reaction of aromatic nitro compounds to aromatic amines. All synthesized MOF compounds and MOF-derived nanoparticles were characterized using XRD, Raman, TGA, SEM-EDX and XPS methods. Also, the pore size distribution and surface area of the MOF-derived Cu/Cu2O@C and Cu@N-C nanoparticles were characterized by BJH and BET methods. After characterization, the catalysts Cu/Cu2O@C and Cu@N-C were catalytically tested for the reduction reactions of various aromatic nitro compounds chemically by monitoring via a UV-vis spectrometer. Both catalysts exhibited remarkable results compared with those in the literature. Also, the Cu/Cu2O@C catalyst showed better results than the Cu@N-C catalyst.