High Catalytic Performance of a CeO2-Supported Ni Catalyst for Hydrogenation of Nitroarenes, Fabricated via Coordination-Assisted Strategy

A family of two-dimensional salen-type lanthanide complexes was synthesized through a facile solution diffusion method. The two-dimensional lanthanide complexes were characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analytical techniques. The SCXRD and XPS analyses reveal that the obtained two-dimensional structures are rich in uncoordinated imine (−CH═N−) groups located on the skeleton of the salen-type organic ligand, which retain strong coordination ability with metal ions. On the basis of this unique feature, a highly dispersed CeO2-supported Ni catalyst (Ni/CeO2-CAS) with highly strong metal–support interaction was first synthesized via a coordination-assisted synthesis (CAS) method, which exhibits a much better catalytic activity in the hydrogenation of nitrobenzene than the traditional Ni/CeO2-IWI catalyst prepared by incipient wetness impregnation (IWI). The origin of the improved catalytic activity of Ni/CeO2-CAS as well as the role of Ni@Ce–H2salen was revealed by using diverse characterizations. On the basis of the comparative characterization results, the superior catalytic performance of Ni/CeO2-CAS to Ni/CeO2-IWI could have resulted from the smaller and highly dispersed Ni nanoparticulates, the intensified Ni–CeO2 interaction, the enhanced NiO reducibility, and the higher concentration of oxygen vacancies, favoring the H2 dissociation and adsorption of the nitrobenzene reactant. The Ni/CeO2-CAS catalyst also exhibits high catalytic performance for reduction of diverse nitroarenes to their corresponding functionalized arylamines. We anticipated that this coordination-assisted strategy may provide a new way for preparing other highly oxide-supported catalysts with potential applications in various catalytic reactions.