Microenvironment Regulation of Active Sites for Efficient Photocatalytic Reduction of Nitrobenzene

Abstract

Two manganese-based catalysts, Mn4L8 and Mn4L6, were synthesized to explore the influence of different metal coordination modes on photocatalytic activity. Crucially, the stronger Mn-O bonds in Mn4L6 hinder the generation of catalytically active sites-a limitation absent in Mn4L8 with its labile coordination bonds. This structural advantage enables Mn4L8 to achieve full conversion in the model photocatalytic reduction of nitrobenzene to aniline. Our findings establish a structure-activity paradigm for engineering highly active photocatalysts through rational coordination environment control.