Visible-Light-Driven Photocatalytic Hydrogenation of Olefins Using Water as the H Source

In this work, a highly efficient PCN-KCl (KCl-modified polymeric carbon nitride) nanosheet photocatalyst was synthesized with the assistance of KCl. The as-prepared PCN-KCl catalyst shows a more than 30-fold enhancement in the photocatalytic activity for H 2 evolution from water compared to the pristine PCN. More importantly, when PCN-KCl was composited with a second catalyst (Pd nanoparticles), the simultaneous production and utilization of active H species for alkenes hydrogenation was achieved by visible light irradiation under ambient conditions. Graphical Photo-ready : One-step photocatalytic generation of hydrogen from water and its subsequent utilization for reduction reactions was demonstrated with typical examples of olefin hydrogenation into the corresponding alkanes over a Pd/PCN-KCl bifunctional photocatalyst under mild conditions.