Photocatalytic Hydrogen Production Coupled with Selective Benzylamine Oxidation over MOF Composites

Photocatalytic water splitting requires separation of the mixed H₂ and O₂ products and is often hampered by the sluggish O₂ -producing half reaction. An approach is now reported to address these issues by coupling the H₂ -producing half reaction with value-added benzylamine oxidation reaction using metal-organic framework (MOF) composites. Upon MOF photoexcitation, the electrons rapidly reduce the protons to generate H₂ and the holes promote considerable benzylamine oxidation to N-benzylbenzaldimine with high selectivity. Further experimental characterizations and theoretical calculation reveal that the highly conjugated s-triazine strut in the MOF structure is crucial to the efficient charge separation and excellent photocatalytic activity.