Nitrogen-doped carbon supported bimetallic CoCu@CN catalyst for selective hydrogenation of nitrile

The catalytic hydrogenation of nitrile compounds to produce organic amines is a promising strategy for amine production. The nitrile hydrogenation reaction poses high demands for the preparation of efficient and economical catalysts. This study designs a bimetallic cobalt-copper catalyst CoCu@CN with carbon nitride material as the carrier. The resulting catalyst exhibits exceptional catalytic performance in the hydrogenation of benzonitrile to yield secondary amines. By employing NH3BH3 as the hydrogen donor, the catalytic yield can achieve up to 94 % under optimal conditions. The catalyst retains its high catalytic activity even after five cycles of use, indicating that it has good stability.