CoOx@Co Nanoparticle-based Catalyst for Efficient Selective Transfer Hydrogenation of α,β-Unsaturated Aldehydes

Currently, developing simple and effective catalysts for selective hydrogenation of alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes to unsaturated alcohols is challenging. Herein, an efficient CoOx-shell/Co-core structured nanoparticle catalyst is synthesized by a facile ultrasonic-assisted carbothermal reduction method. The resultant catalyst exhibits outstanding catalytic performance toward the selective transfer hydrogenation of a wide spectrum of alpha,beta-unsaturated aldehydes into corresponding unsaturated alcohols with over 90 % selectivity. This is the simplest nonprecious metal catalyst to be reported for the selective hydrogenation of unsaturated aldehydes.