Issue 45, 2021

A flavin-inspired covalent organic framework for photocatalytic alcohol oxidation

Abstract

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) offer a number of key properties that predestine them to be used as heterogeneous photocatalysts, including intrinsic porosity, long-range order, and light absorption. Since COFs can be constructed from a practically unlimited library of organic building blocks, these properties can be precisely tuned by choosing suitable linkers. Herein, we report the construction and use of a novel COF (FEAx-COF) photocatalyst, inspired by natural flavin cofactors. We show that the functionality of the alloxazine chromophore incorporated into the COF backbone is retained and study the effects of this heterogenization approach by comparison with similar molecular photocatalysts. We find that the integration of alloxazine chromophores into the framework significantly extends the absorption spectrum into the visible range, allowing for photocatalytic oxidation of benzylic alcohols to aldehydes even with low-energy visible light. In addition, the activity of the heterogeneous COF photocatalyst is less dependent on the chosen solvent, making it more versatile compared to molecular alloxazines. Finally, the use of oxygen as the terminal oxidant renders FEAx-COF a promising and “green” heterogeneous photocatalyst.

Graphical abstract: A flavin-inspired covalent organic framework for photocatalytic alcohol oxidation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Edge Article
Submitted
28 jul 2021
Accepted
02 nov 2021
First published
15 nov 2021
This article is Open Access

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

Chem. Sci., 2021,12, 15143-15150

A flavin-inspired covalent organic framework for photocatalytic alcohol oxidation

S. Trenker, L. Grunenberg, T. Banerjee, G. Savasci, L. M. Poller, K. I. M. Muggli, F. Haase, C. Ochsenfeld and B. V. Lotsch, Chem. Sci., 2021, 12, 15143 DOI: 10.1039/D1SC04143F

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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