Yu Long

Designing reducible metal oxide catalysts that remain stable under hydrogenation conditions represents a longstanding challenge in heterogeneous catalysis, as most oxides are readily reduced and structurally degraded in H ₂ ‐rich environments. Here, we report an oxygen‐anchoring strategy that enables hydrogen‐tolerant metal oxide catalysts. Using this approach, a CuO/TiO ₂ catalyst stabilized by an oxygen‐rich C─O framework (HT‐CuO/TiO ₂ ) was constructed for the selective hydrogenation‐coupling of nitriles to secondary amines. The oxygen functionalities within the C─O framework act as anchoring sites that stabilize CuO nanoclusters and suppress their reduction under hydrogen. The stabilized CuO nanoclusters function both as hydrogen activation centers and Lewis acid sites for nitrile adsorption. Meanwhile, the introduction of TiO ₂ leads to the formation of intimate CuO─TiO ₂ interfacial structures, accompanied by the presence of Ti ³⁺ species and enhanced hydrogen activation behavior. Notably, this hydrogen‐tolerant behavior extends to a range of reducible metal oxides, including CuO, Cu ₂ O, CoO, and NiO, demonstrating the generality of the oxygen‐anchoring stabilization principle. This work establishes a general strategy for stabilizing reducible metal oxides under hydrogen and unlocks their catalytic potential for hydrogenation chemistry.

Designing reducible metal oxide catalysts that remain stable under hydrogenation conditions represents a longstanding challenge in heterogeneous catalysis, as most oxides are readily reduced and structurally degraded in H ₂ ‐rich environments. Here, we report an oxygen‐anchoring strategy that enables hydrogen‐tolerant metal oxide catalysts. Using this approach, a CuO/TiO ₂ catalyst stabilized by an oxygen‐rich C─O framework (HT‐CuO/TiO ₂ ) was constructed for the selective hydrogenation‐coupling of nitriles to secondary amines. The oxygen functionalities within the C─O framework act as anchoring sites that stabilize CuO nanoclusters and suppress their reduction under hydrogen. The stabilized CuO nanoclusters function both as hydrogen activation centers and Lewis acid sites for nitrile adsorption. Meanwhile, the introduction of TiO ₂ leads to the formation of intimate CuO─TiO ₂ interfacial structures, accompanied by the presence of Ti ³⁺ species and enhanced hydrogen activation behavior. Notably, this hydrogen‐tolerant behavior extends to a range of reducible metal oxides, including CuO, Cu ₂ O, CoO, and NiO, demonstrating the generality of the oxygen‐anchoring stabilization principle. This work establishes a general strategy for stabilizing reducible metal oxides under hydrogen and unlocks their catalytic potential for hydrogenation chemistry.

We disclose a sustainable, additive-free strategy for the synthesis of 2-arylbenzimidazoles using a cost-efficient Fe2O3-based heterogeneous catalyst. This one-pot cascade reaction, employing benzyl alcohols and o-nitroanilines as substrates, proceeds efficiently under mild conditions. Remarkably, the amorphous Fe2O3-200 catalyst delivers dramatically enhanced catalytic performance over its crystalline analogues, affording benzimidazole products in up to 99% yield. Mechanistic investigations attribute this superior activity to the high density of oxygen vacancies and the strong adsorption affinity for benzyl alcohol, which collectively promote the key dehydrogenation step. The catalyst also exhibits outstanding stability, maintaining its high reactivity over five consecutive cycles without a noticeable loss of activity, thereby highlighting its promise for practical and scalable applications.

Hybrid double-atom catalysts (HDACs) provide a versatile platform to steer the carbon monoxide reduction reaction (CORR) toward C2 products. However, the underlying principles connecting atomic-site electronics, electrolyte microenvironments and selectivity...

Semiconductor-based photocatalytic overall water splitting offers a clean, sustainable, and low-carbon route for green hydrogen production, positioning it as a highly promising technology in the evolving energy landscape. Among various...

Traditional sulfoxide synthesis often relies on toxic oxidants and harsh conditions. Photocatalytic oxidation using inorganic semiconductors provides a greener approach but is limited by low catalytic efficiency. Herein, we developed a heterostructure catalyst enriched with cadmium vacancies (denoted as Cd _v S _x /Ti ₃ CN). The optimized Cd _v S ₄ /Ti ₃ CN exhibited a high sulfoxide production rate of 21.85 mmol·g _cat ^–1 ·h ^–1 , outperforming most reported catalytic systems. Comprehensive characterization revealed that sulfur dosage was precisely tuned during synthesis to generate abundant cadmium vacancies and expose active crystal facets. In particular, the presence of cadmium vacancies enhances substrate adsorption via unsaturated coordination sites, lowers the energy barrier for bond activation, and promotes the activation of O ₂ into superoxide radicals. Moreover, Ti ₃ CN further facilitates photogenerated electron transfer and enhances superoxide radical concentration by enabling favorable band alignment with CdS. In addition, the catalyst demonstrates excellent substrate compatibility and recyclability. This work offers a new approach for improving the performance of CdS‐based inorganic semiconductor catalysts in sulfoxide synthesis through Cd defect engineering.