Palladium nanoparticles on gallium nitride as a Mott-Schottky catalyst for efficient and durable photoactivation of unactivated alkanes

The direct functionalization of inert C-H bonds has long been a holy grail for the chemistry world. In this report, the direct C(sp3)-N bond formation of unactivated alkanes is reported with a GaN based Mott-Schottky catalyst under photocatalytic reaction conditions. Long term stability and reaction efficiency (up to 92%) were achieved with this photocatalyst. The deposition of a Pd co-catalyst on the surface of GaN significantly enhanced the reaction efficiency. Microscopic investigation suggested a remarkable interaction in the Pd/GaN Schottky junction, giving a significant Pd/GaN depletion layer. In addition, density functional theory (DFT) calculations were performed to show the distinct performance of Pd nanoparticles at the atomic level. The direct functionalization of inert C-H bonds has long been a holy grail for the chemistry world.

Automated summary

In this report, a method for direct C(sp3)-N bond formation of unactivated alkanes under photocatalytic reaction conditions using a GaN based Mott-Schottky catalyst is reported. The addition of a Pd co-catalyst significantly enhances the reaction efficiency.