Reduction of nitroarenes via photocatalysis is a promising strategy for the sustainable production of anilines. Catalytic systems featuring type-II heterojunctions are widely considered effective for photocatalytic reactions due to their well-defined interfacial charge transfer mechanism. Herein, a type-II heterojunction was constructed by the assembly of a two-dimensional (2D) porphyrinic metal-organic framework (Cu-PPF-1) with Pt single-atom-decorated 2D nitrogen-doped carbon (Pt-C3N4). The resulting Cu-PPF-1/Pt-C3N4 composite exhibited high efficiency in the photocatalytic hydrogenation of nitrobenzene, giving rise to nearly 100% yield of aniline. This performance exceeded that of Cu-PPF-1, Pt-C3N4, or their physical mixture. Reaction mechanism studies revealed that the type-II heterojunction within Cu-PPF-1/Pt-C3N4 enhanced charge separation efficiency and promoted the transfer of photogenerated electrons from Pt-C3N4 to Cu-PPF-1, thereby facilitating nitrobenzene reduction on Cu-PPF-1 via a direct hydrogenation pathway.
Huang et al. (Fri,) studied this question.