Single Nickel sites - easy separation and high-performance catalyst for the production of β-Nitro alcohols

• Published in: Separation and purification technology 2022-05, Vol.289, p.120769, Article 120769
• Main Authors: Huang, Yuchang, Hou, Qiankun, Ding, De, Yang, Nan, Chen, Yin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Facile Separation; Henry Reaction; Heterogenous Catalysis; Single Nickel Sites; β-Nitro Alcohols
• ISSN: 1383-5866; 1873-3794
• DOI: 10.1016/j.seppur.2022.120769

•An energy saving and easy separation preparation strategy was developed for the production of β-nitro alcohol.•Single-site Ni catalyst was synthesized in large scale with quantitative yield from cheap starting material under mild conditions.•The surface immobilized Ni site exhibited excellent catalysis activity and selectivity in Henry reaction, aromatic aldehydes and nitroalkane can be converted into β-nitro alcohols with a yield up to 99% under room temperature without any additive.•The β-nitro alcohol product can be easily separated after the reaction, no significant metal leaching was detected after several catalysis cycles.•The single-site Ni catalyst has high catalysis stability and reproducibility in Henry reaction. Heterogeneous atomically dispersed catalysts can be easily separated after the reaction with a maximum atom utilization efficiency. As one kind of very important organic intermediate, the development of cheap and efficient heterogeneous catalyst is highly desirable for the synthesis of β-nitro alcohols. By immobilizing the nickel-nitrogen complex on the surface of a 2D layered substrate, carbon-based single-site Ni catalyst was synthesized in large scale with quantitative yield under mild conditions. With the single nickel sites, aromatic aldehydes and nitromethane were converted into β-nitro alcohols with a yield up to 99% under room temperature, no additive is needed. Due to the steric effect of the surface, diastereoselectivity (syn/anti ratio up to 3.5:1) was observed with the β-nitro alcohols produced from nitropropane. The surface immobilized active Nickel sites can be easily separated from the product, negligible performance reduction was observed after five reaction cycles. This atomically dispersed Ni catalyst also can be produced facially in large batch under mild conditions, very close catalysis performance was observed with different batches. In hence, an energy saving and easy separation strategy was developed for the production of β-nitro alcohols.