Visible light driven imine formation using a CuO–RG photocatalyst

Abstract

This study reports the synthesis of a binary photocatalytic system by integrating graphene oxide with copper oxide to fabricate a CuO–R_G photocatalyst via a facile hydrothermal method. Various physicochemical techniques were employed to elucidate the structural features of the synthesized binary photocatalyst. The CuO–R_G photocatalyst exhibited excellent visible light activity toward the C–N bond-forming photo-condensation reaction between benzaldehyde and aniline, leading to imine (benzylideneaniline) formation. The reaction performed under 200 W white LED illumination in methanol as an eco-friendly solvent achieved a high selectivity of 98.5% and an impressive conversion rate of 92.18% within 6 h. Furthermore, the CuO–R_G photocatalyst demonstrated remarkable recyclability, retaining high catalytic performance over five successive cycles with only a slight decline in conversion efficiency.