Unprecedented Selective Aerobic Oxidation of Alcohols to Carbonyl Compounds Over Drilled Carbon Nanotubes Assisted with Fe(NO3)3

Selectively oxidizing alcohols to carbonyl compounds in an eco-friendly and sustainable way is of great importance. Instead of the noble catalytic system, we developed a novel catalytic system based on drilled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) assisted by Fe(NO3)3 that exhibits high activity for aerobic oxidation reactions. Interestingly, our studies demonstrated a direct relationship between the defects in the drilled CNTs and their activity. Catalytic evaluations revealed that the synergistic effect of drilled CNTs combined with Fe(NO3)3 resulted in unprecedented activity. The edge defects of the CNTs and electron transformation of Fe work synergistically to activate O2. Furthermore, the electronic transition from the drilled CNTs to Fe3+ confirmed the synergistic effect of the drilled CNTs/Fe(NO3)3. Thus, our studies not only demonstrate the use of drilled CNTs/Fe(NO3)3 in a sustainable catalytic system but also provide insight into the synergistic effect between these components for the universal oxidation of alcohols to carbonyl compounds.