The photocatalysis of alcohols to aldehydes and carboxylic acids usually involves UV or visible light, but a group of scientists from China has discovered that carbon quantum dots can catalyse such reactions using near-infrared wavelengths.
Conventional UV/visible-light approaches involve expensive, toxic heavy metals, whereas the carbon quantum dots are more environmentally friendly and stable under the near-infrared operating conditions. In their Nanoscale article the researchers report the transformation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde with 100% selectivity and 92% conversion, and identify •OH radicals as the main active oxygen species.
Read this HOT Nanoscale article in full:
Near-infrared light controlled photocatalytic acitvity of carbon quantum dots for highly slective oxidation reaction
Haitao Li, Ruihua Liu, Suoyuan Lian, Yang Liu, Hui Huang and Zhenhui Kang
DOI: 10.1039/C3NR00092C
