The fabrication of IMo6@iPAF-1 as an enzyme mimic in heterogeneous catalysis for oxidative desulfurization under O2 or air

Na5[IMo6O24]·3H2O and a porous aromatic framework (iPAF-1) were used to build an off-the-shelf building material (IMo6@iPAF-1) to realize the highly efficient oxidation of organic sulfurs like oxygenase. The synergy between IMo6 and iPAF-1 resulted in a higher BET surface area, hydrophobic microenvironment, and redox sites to show higher activity in aerobic oxidative desulfurization with almost 100% removal of model organic sulfurs under atmospheric pressure with almost 246 times higher TOFs compared to IMo6. It also showed efficiency in the desulfurization of gasoline and diesel to give very low S contents of 7.1 and 7.6 ppm with 99.3% and 99.4% removal, respectively, at 100 °C for 6 h. More importantly, IMo6@iPAF-1 could also catalyze desulfurization using concentrated O2 mixed with N2 or air instead of pure O2 with better safety and economics, while as low as 4.9 and 6.9 ppm S contents were achieved for gasoline and diesel, respectively. The special surroundings of IMo6@iPAF-1 repelled the sulfone product and allowed it to perform with the same efficiency when recycled without any treatment of the used catalyst.