Activation of Carbonyl Groups via Weak Interactions in Pt/COF/SiO2 Catalyzed Selective Hydrogenation

Biocatalysts selectively activate chemical bonds via weak interactions; however, this remains a significant barrier for artificial catalysts. Herein, we report a biomimetic Pt/COF/SiO2 (COF: covalent organic framework) catalyst with independently tunable sites of Pt, COF, and SiO2. Inert aliphatic carbonyl compounds can be efficiently converted into corresponding alcohols through the biomimetic catalyst; conversely, catalysts such as Pt/SiO2 are hardly successful. Compared with Pt/SiO2, the biomimetic catalyst demonstrates a substantial increase in selectivity to phenyl ethanol from 27.5 to 94.7% in acetophenone hydrogenation. The promoted activity and selectivity of the biomimetic catalyst are attributed to the synergistic catalysis of carbonyl hydrogenation on COF sites, H2 dissociation on Pt, and hydrogen transfer through SiO2. The synergistic catalysis with weak interactions is an efficient approach for the selective hydrogenation of substrates with multiple unsaturated groups.