An enzyme-mimic single Fe-N3 atom catalyst for the oxidative synthesis of nitriles via C─C bond cleavage strategy

The cleavage and functionalization of recalcitrant carbon─carbon bonds is highly challenging but represents a very powerful tool for value-added transformation of feedstock chemicals. Here, an enzyme-mimic iron single-atom catalyst (SAC) bearing iron (III) nitride (FeN 3 ) motifs was prepared and found to be robust for cleavage and cyanation of carbon–carbon bonds in secondary alcohols and ketones. High nitrile yields are obtained with a wide variety of functional groups. The prepared FeN 3 -SAC exhibits high enzyme-like activity and is capable of generating a dioxygen-to-superoxide radical at room temperature, while the commonly reported FeN 4 -SAC bearing FeN 4 motifs was inactive. Density functional theory (DFT) calculation reveals that the activation energy of dioxygen activation and the activation energy of the rate-determining step of nitrile formation are lower over FeN 3 -SAC than FeN 4 -SAC. In addition, DFT calculation also explains the catalyst’s high selectivity for nitriles.