H2O2, as an important raw material, has wide applications in chemical synthesis, especially in selective oxidation reactions. H2O2 can be produced through heterogeneous catalytic processes and electrocatalysis. Besides, H2O2 can also be formed through photocatalytic reactions catalyzed by semiconductors. O2 can be selectively converted to H2O2 by Photo-generated electrons through two-electron process. Herein, we will present our recent works on photocatalytic production of H2O2 catalyzed by C3N4-based semiconductor materials and the further utilization of H2O2 for Baeyer-Villiger oxidation. In the first example (as shown in Figure 1), aromatic alcohol can be selectively oxidized to aromatic aldehyde companying with the formation of H2O2. After adding Sn-Beta zeolite into the system, aldehyde can be further converted to ester and phenol through Baeyer-Villiger oxidation without adding additional H2O2. In the second example, we will demonstrate the photocatalytic one-pot Baeyer-Villiger oxidation using in-situ formed H2O2 (as shown in Figure 2). H2O2 can be in-situ through photocatalytic process by C3N4-based materials and subsequently will be further used for Baeyer-Villiger oxidation. In this process, the photocatalytic production of H2O2 and Bayer-Villiger oxidation is performed in one-pot process. Our work may provide some new strategies for the utilization of solar energy through the selective production of H2O2 and its application for chemical transformations.

Photocatalytic production of H2O2 and its further utilization for Baeyer-Villiger oxidation

249th National Meeting (2015)

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