Chemoselective hydrogenation of α,β-unsaturated aldehydes on hydrogenated MoOx nanorods supported iridium nanoparticles

As reducible supports, metal oxides present the varied charge effect after hydrogen doping and partial reduction, accomplishing the tunable metal-support interactions and the promoted catalytic turnover in heterogeneous catalysis. Herein, the one-pot fabrication of hydrogenated MoO x (H-MoO x ) nanorods supported Ir (Ir/H-MoO x ) was developed, which simultaneously combined the generation of active centers (Ir) and the hydrogen doping on supports (H-MoO x ). Because of the accumulated electrons around MoO 6 octahedras after hydrogen doping, the electronic perturbations arising from H-MoO x supports led to the negatively charge Ir δ− species being beneficial for the selective hydrogenation of C O moiety in α,β-unsaturated aldehydes. In the hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde to cinnamyl alcohol, Ir/H-MoO x delivered selectivity as high as ∼93%, performing among the best of current metal-based catalysts. Additionally, the efficacy for various substrates with multiple groups further verified our Ir/H-MoO x system to be competitive for chemoselective hydrogenation.