A Porphyrin-Based Covalent Organic Framework for Metal-Free Photocatalytic Aerobic Oxidative Coupling of Amines

Imines are important intermediates in drug synthesis. Photocatalytic aerobic oxidative coupling of amines has been considered as a clean and promising way to produce imines and has attracted great attention. Herein, we designed and synthesized a novel two-dimensional porphyrin-based covalent organic framework (Por-BC-COF) which adopts an AA stacking mode with excellent crystallinity, high Brunauer-Emmett-Teller surface areas (1200 m(2) g(-1)), wide light absorption range (200-1300 nm) and good stability in a variety of organic solvents. Por-BC-COF can be used as a metal-free heterogeneous photocatalyst for the photocatalytic oxidation of amines to imines under visible light and red light with a high yield (97 %). This work presents a novel and efficient COF photocatalyst in the application of light-driven organic synthesis.

Automated summary

This study presents a novel two-dimensional porphyrin-based covalent organic framework (Por-BC-COF) that can serve as a metal-free heterogeneous photocatalyst for the oxidation of amines to imines with a high yield of 97%. The framework exhibits excellent crystallinity, high surface area, wide light absorption range, and good stability in various organic solvents.