Solvent-Free Ammoxidation of Biomass Alcohols to Nitriles over the Nitrogen-Doped Carbon-Supported Iron Catalyst
Nitriles are high-value chemicals with wide applications, and alcohol ammoxidation is a green route to them. However, solvents are widely used and suffer from increasing cost and energy consumption, inevitable solvent volatilization, and separation problems. Herein, a solvent-free ammoxidation of biomass alcohols to nitriles was realized over the FeNC-700 catalyst, and a series of nitriles including benzonitriles, 2-furonitrile, 2-thiophenecarbonitrile, 4-cyanopyridine, naphthonitriles, cinnamonitrile, and 3-phenylpropanenitrile were obtained in good to excellent yields. Mechanism investigation indicated that the •O2– radical was the active oxygen species. The unique structure of iron- and nitrogen-doped carbon is key for the reaction, and the Fe–Nx site is the possible catalytically active site.
Authors
- Yongqiang Yao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0002-1941-9904)
- Zhengang Ke (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9714-8412)
- Qingqing Pu (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1647-9920)
- Yong Quan Guo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5104-2732)
- Donglei Fan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4724-2483)
- Zhenyu Sun (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5788-9339)
- Longfei Wang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2811-2656)
- Yongsheng Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5621-9528)
- Yuqi Yao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0001-6895-6258)
Institutions
- Shihezi University (CN)
- State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composite Materials (CN)
- Beijing University of Chemical Technology (CN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
- Published
- 2025-07-19
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acssuschemeng.5c04497
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Catalysis for Biomass Conversion
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.35
Funders
- Government of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation
- Shihezi University