Defective N‐Doped Carbon Nanospheres Anchored Pd for Selective Hydrodeoxygenation of Bio‐Models under Mild Conditions

Hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) is of great significance in converting biomass into high value‐added chemicals under mild conditions. However, the design of effective catalysts remains challenge. Herein, a N‐doped carbon nanospheres–supported Pd catalyst for mild vanillin HDO is designed by defect‐enhancement engineering using in situ synthesis. According to the characterization results, the degree of defects is enhanced on the in situ N‐doped carbon spheres (CAFR) with 3‐aminophenol as nitrogen source, which is related to the higher content of pyridine nitrogen. The Pd/CAFR with the most degree of defects exhibits excellent catalytic performance (99.8% of 2‐methoxy‐4‐methylphenol yield) at 50 °C. The plentiful defects act as active sites for anchoring Pd nanoparticles (NPs) to promote uniform dispersion. Meanwhile, the highly dispersed Pd NPs are coordinated with abundant defects through strong metal‐support interaction to increase the content of reduced Pd NPs, which improves the catalytic activity under mild conditions. Moreover, the optimal Pd/CAFR catalyst shows favorable recyclability after five cycles. The defect‐enhancement engineering on carbon materials by in situ N‐doping provides a new idea for support modification of high‐efficiency catalysts under mild conditions.