Issue 10, 2017

Photocatalytic oxidation of benzene to phenol using dioxygen as an oxygen source and water as an electron source in the presence of a cobalt catalyst

Abstract

Photocatalytic hydroxylation of benzene to phenol by dioxygen (O2) occurs under visible light irradiation of an O2-saturated acetonitrile solution containing [RuII(Me2phen)3]2+ as a photocatalyst, [CoIII(Cp*)(bpy)(H2O)]2+ as an efficient catalyst for both the water oxidation and benzene hydroxylation reactions, and water as an electron source in the presence of Sc(NO3)3. The present study reports the first example of photocatalytic hydroxylation of benzene with O2 and H2O, both of which are the most green reagents, under visible light irradiation to afford a high turnover number (e.g., >500). Mechanistic studies revealed that the photocatalytic reduction of O2 to H2O2 is the rate-determining step, followed by efficient catalytic hydroxylation of benzene to phenol with H2O2, paving a new way for the photocatalytic oxygenation of substrates by O2 and water.

Graphical abstract: Photocatalytic oxidation of benzene to phenol using dioxygen as an oxygen source and water as an electron source in the presence of a cobalt catalyst

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
04 jun. 2017
Accepted
21 ago. 2017
First published
21 ago. 2017
This article is Open Access

All publication charges for this article have been paid for by the Royal Society of Chemistry
Creative Commons BY-NC license

Chem. Sci., 2017,8, 7119-7125

Photocatalytic oxidation of benzene to phenol using dioxygen as an oxygen source and water as an electron source in the presence of a cobalt catalyst

J. W. Han, J. Jung, Y. Lee, W. Nam and S. Fukuzumi, Chem. Sci., 2017, 8, 7119 DOI: 10.1039/C7SC02495A

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