Photocatalytic hydrogenation of nitroarenes using Cu_1.94S-Zn_0.23Cd_0.77S heteronanorods

Catalytic hydrogenation is an important process in the chemical industry. Traditional catalysts require the effective cleavage of hydrogen molecules on the metal-catalyst surface, which is difficult to achieve with non-noble metal catalysts. In this work, we report a new hydrogenation method based on water/proton reduction, which is completely different from the catalytic cleavage of hydrogen molecules. Active hydrogen species and photo-generated electrons can be directly applied to the hydrogenation process with Cu_1.94S-Zn_0.23Cd_0.77S semiconductor heterojunction nanorods. Nitrobenzene, with a variety of substituent groups, can be efficiently reduced to the corresponding aniline without the addition of hydrogen gas. This is a novel and direct pathway for hydrogenation using non-noble metal catalysts.