Interfacial Reaction-Directed Green Synthesis of CeO-MnO Catalysts for Imine Production through Oxidative Coupling of Alcohols and Amines.

Direct oxidative coupling of alcohols with amines over cheap but efficient catalysts is a promising choice for imine formation. In this study, porous CeO-MnO binary oxides were prepared via an interfacial reaction between Ce(SO) and KMnO at room temperature without any additives. The as-prepared porous CeO-MnO catalyst has a higher fraction of Ce, Mn, and Mn and contains larger surface area and more oxygen vacancies. During the oxidative coupling reaction of alcohol with amine to imine, the as-obtained CeO-MnO catalyst is motivated by the above encouraging characteristics and exhibits superior catalytic activity (98% conversion and 97% selectivity) and can also work effectively under a wide scope of temperatures and substrates. The in-depth DRIFTS and density functional theory (DFT) results demonstrate that there is a strong interaction between CeO and MnO in the CeO-MnO catalyst, exhibiting especially a positive synergistic effect in the direct coupling of alcohol and amine reaction.