Kazuya Imamura, Takayuki Yoshikawa, Kousuke Nakanishi, Keiji Hashimoto and Hiroshi Kominami
Chem. Commun., 2013,49, 10911-10913
DOI:
10.1039/C3CC46439C,
Communication
Benzonitrile (PhCN) was successfully reduced to benzyl amine in acidic aqueous suspensions of a palladium (Pd)-loaded titanium(IV) oxide (TiO2) photocatalyst in the presence of oxalic acid as a hole scavenger, although the reduction potential of PhCN is believed to be much higher than the potential of the conduction band (CB) of TiO2, indicating that a Pd co-catalyst strongly contributes to PhCN reduction and that the applicability of photocatalytic reduction is not limited by the CB position of semiconductor photocatalysts.