One-pot synthesis of nickel encapsulated COF-derived catalyst for highly selective and efficient hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde.

Since efficient hydrogenation was valued for manufacture of pharmaceutical intermediates and fragrances in recent years, the development of easily accessible heterogeneous catalysts was preferably made. Here we designed a facile one-pot synthesis of Ni modified COF-derived catalyst for selective catalytic hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde. The nickel-based COFs catalyst reduced at 600 °C exhibited better catalytic activity for the selective production of hydrocinnamyl with an excellent yield of 98%, and the nickel-based COFs reduced at 500 °C and 700 °C preferred to selectively produce benzenepropanal. Overall, this work proves cost-effective and sustainable access to the wide application of selective hydrogenation reaction. [Display omitted] • This work provides a nickel encapsulated COF-derived catalysts for hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde. • The Ni/COF-600 catalyst was active in catalytic hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde towards hydrocinnamyl with approaching 98% yield, while the Ni/COF-700 COF catalyst was effective for the selective production of benzenepropanal with 90% yield. • These - nickel encapsulated COF-derived catalysts are cheap and highly active non-noble candidates for advanced green chemistry catalysis applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]