Solvent-Free Ammoxidation of Biomass Alcohols to Nitriles over the Nitrogen-Doped Carbon-Supported Iron Catalyst

Nitriles are high-value chemicals with wide applications, and alcohol ammoxidation is a green route to them. However, solvents are widely used and suffer from increasing cost and energy consumption, inevitable solvent volatilization, and separation problems. Herein, a solvent-free ammoxidation of biomass alcohols to nitriles was realized over the FeNC-700 catalyst, and a series of nitriles including benzonitriles, 2-furonitrile, 2-thiophenecarbonitrile, 4-cyanopyridine, naphthonitriles, cinnamonitrile, and 3-phenylpropanenitrile were obtained in good to excellent yields. Mechanism investigation indicated that the •O2– radical was the active oxygen species. The unique structure of iron- and nitrogen-doped carbon is key for the reaction, and the Fe–Nx site is the possible catalytically active site.