Catalytic Transfer Hydrogenation of the C=O Bond in Unsaturated Aldehydes over Pt Nanoparticles Embedded in Porous UiO-66 Nanoparticles

Selective preparation of unsaturated alcohols via the hydrogenation of C=O in alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes is a challenging reaction. In this work, a nanoscale material Pt/UiO-66 catalyst with homogenously dispersed Pt nanoparticles encapsulated in UiO-66 was prepared. Its performance for the selective formation of unsaturated alcohols from unsaturated aldehydes with molecular H-2 and via the catalytic transfer hydrogenation (CTH) was compared. It was found that Pt/UiO-66 was more selective and efficient for the hydrogenation of the C=O bond to alcohol when isopropanol was utilized as hydrogen donors instead of molecular H-2. The selectivity of unsaturated alcohols reached 94.6% at a 90.5% conversion of unsaturated aldehydes at 150 degrees C. At the same time, the utilization of isopropanol as hydrogen donors reached 92.6%, and a turnover frequency of 4071 h(-1) was achieved. The CTH reaction mechanism over Pt/UiO-66 was suggested based on the results of several control experiments.