Effective and Selective Catalysts for Cinnamaldehyde Hydrogenation: Hydrophobic Hybrids of Metal-Organic Frameworks, Metal Nanoparticles, and Micro- and Mesoporous Polymers

Abstract

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) as selectivity regulators for catalytic reactions have attracted much attention, especially MOFs and metal nanoparticle (NP) shelled structures, e.g., MOFs@NPs@MOFs. Nevertheless, making hydrophilic MOF shells for gathering hydrophobic reactants is challenging. Described here is a new and viable approach employing conjugated micro‐ and mesoporous polymers with iron(III) porphyrin (FeP‐CMPs) as a new shell to fabricate MIL‐101@Pt@FeP‐CMP. It is not only hydrophobic and porous for enriching reactants, but also possesses iron sites to activate C=O bonds, thereby regulating the selectivity for cinnamyl alcohol in the hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde. Interestingly, MIL‐101@Pt@FeP‐CMPsponge can achieve a high turnover frequency ( 1516.1 h−1), with 97.3 % selectivity for cinnamyl alcohol at 97.6 % conversion.