Achieving rhodium-like activity for olefin hydroformylation by electronic metal-support interaction of single atomic cobalt catalyst br

Hydroformylation of olefins with H-2 and CO is an important industrial process for aldehyde production, and developing Earth -abundant catalysts with high catalytic activity and stability remains challenging. Here, we synthesize a rhodium-like high-efficiency single-atom cobalt catalyst over beta-Mo2C toward olefin hydroformy-lation. During the hydroformylation of propene, the single atomic cobalt catalyst achieves a turnover number of 3,834 and a turnover frequency of 749 h(-1), which to our knowledge surpasses all the re-ported heterogeneous cobalt-based catalysts and approaches the performance of rhodium catalysts. Moreover, the catalyst can be reused five times without an obvious activity decline, confirming the excellent stability of single-atom Co supported on beta-Mo2C. We demonstrate that a Co-1-MoxCy motif forms on the carbide surface with electronic metal-support interaction (EMSI). Such an EMSI effect plays a pivotal role in optimizing the charge density, reducing the reaction barrier, and stabilizing the active site.

Automated summary

In this study, a rhodium-like single-atom cobalt catalyst was successfully developed to enhance the catalytic activity of olefin hydroformylation, surpassing heterogeneous cobalt-based catalysts and approaching the performance of rhodium catalysts. The catalyst showed excellent stability and retained high activity even after five repeated uses. The study revealed that electronic metal-support interaction played a pivotal role in improving the catalyst's performance.