Efficient visible-light-driven selective conversion of glucose to high-value chemicals over Bi2WO6/Co-thioporphyrazine composite in aqueous media

Selective photocatalytic oxidation of glucose to high-value chemicals in aqueous media using atmospheric oxygen as oxidant and solar light as driving force is a greatly attractive topic. Herein, Bi 2 WO 6 /CoPz (cobalt tetra(2,3-bis(butylthio)maleonitrile) porphyrazine) composite was served as a visible-light photocatalyst towards selective oxidation of glucose to high-value arabinose and formic acid in aqueous media, which was performed under visible light (λ ≥ 420 nm) irradiation using atmospheric oxygen as oxidant. The reactive parameters for glucose oxidation, such as light intensity, CoPz content, glucose concentration and active species, were studied. The highest activity for Bi 2 WO 6 /CoPz composite was obtained when the CoPz content was 0.25 %. Under the optimum reaction conditions, 96.8 % of total selectivity towards arabinose and formic acid at 45.3 % of glucose conversion was obtained after reacting 3 h. The critical role of CoPz and the rationale behind the high photocatalytic performance for Bi 2 WO 6 /CoPz composite were further investigated using various techniques.