Persistent radical pairs trigger nano-gold to highly efficiently and highly selectively drive the value-added conversion of nitroaromatics

Summary The development of advanced catalyst materials capable of efficiently capturing solar energy to drive the beneficial conversion of chemicals is a key part of the blueprint for “liquid sunlight.” Here, highly dispersed ultrafine nano-Au (B/TPTH3@Au) was anchored in situ on B/TPTH3 formed by alternate cross-linking of closo-[B12H12]2− and protonated 2,4,6-tris(4-pyridyl)-1,3,5-triazine. B/TPTH3@Au is an outstanding heterogeneous photocatalyst that converts low-value-added nitroaromatics into high-value-added azoaromatics. Compared with the slow kinetics of previous catalysts, the time required for the conversion of nitroaromatics to azoaromatics driven by B/TPTH3@Au is reduced by at least 10 times. These improvements could be derived from the synergy between the carrier B/TPTH3 (as a stable radical pair) and the nano-gold, including continuous electron transport in the functional carrier B/TPTH3 and the anchoring of highly dispersed ultrafine nano-Au with a strong localized surface plasmon resonance effect.