An investigation of the effects of CeO2 crystal planes on the aerobic oxidative synthesis of imines from alcohols and amines

We herein report the effects of CeO 2 crystal planes on the oxidative coupling of alcohols and amines to form imines. CeO 2 exhibits significant catalytic activity under mild reaction conditions (60 °C) during the synthesis of 13 different imines, giving >89% conversions and >90% selectivities. The crystal planes of CeO 2 greatly affect the catalytic performance. Among the crystal planes investigated (the (110), (100) and (111) planes), the (110) plane shows the strongest redox ability and thus the best catalytic activity, generating a 97% yield of the imine at 60 °C in 2 h, because it contains the highest concentration of oxygen vacancies.