N-Graphitic Modified Cobalt Nanoparticles Supported on Graphene for Tandem Dehydrogenation of Ammonia-Borane and Semihydrogenation of Alkynes

The utilization of non-noble metals for the design of advanced catalysts is gaining importance from an environmental sustainability viewpoint. A variety of non-noble metal nanoparticles decorated on electron-rich carbon, which provides active sites for the catalysis, have been extensively studied in recent times. Herein, we report an efficient and reusable N-graphitic modified cobalt nanoparticles supported on graphene for dehydrogenation of ammonia-borane (AB, H3N-BH3), and selective catalytic hydrogenation of alkynes in tandem manner. The catalyst was prepared by a simple procedure on a multigram scale using inexpensive precursors followed by pyrolysis. This stable nanocatalyst performs efficiently with a nine-run recycling test. Furthermore, mechanistic studies clearly show that NH3:BH3 acts as a hydride source and methanol acts as a protic source during the stereoselective hydrogenation reaction. The findings demonstrate the potential for the development of N-graphitic modified metal nanoparticles supported on graphene for the development of new materials with far-reaching implications in catalysis and organic synthesis.