Xiaoyu You , Caoyu Yang , Xinwei Li , Zhiyong Tang
{"title":"Porousizing catalysts for boosting CO2 electroreducation","authors":"Xiaoyu You , Caoyu Yang , Xinwei Li , Zhiyong Tang","doi":"10.1016/S1872-2067(24)60147-6","DOIUrl":"10.1016/S1872-2067(24)60147-6","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Facing soaring global energy demand and intensifying environmental problems, the search for sustainable energy alternatives has become imperative. The efficient conversion of carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>), one of the primary greenhouse gases, plays the crucial role in mitigating global climate change. The electrocatalytic CO<sub>2</sub> reduction reaction (eCO<sub>2</sub>RR) provides an effective solution for its conversion into high-value-added chemicals, promoting the development of the carbon cycle and green chemistry. Porous materials of distinctive physicochemical properties have demonstrated substantial potential in eCO<sub>2</sub>RR. In this review, various strategies of porousizing catalysts for boosted eCO<sub>2</sub>RR are briefly summarized. Subsequently, the functionalities of porous materials including enrichment effect, modulating microenvironmental pH, stabilizing key species, facilitating mass transfer and tuning the nature of active sites to improve the efficiency and selectivity of eCO<sub>2</sub>RR are categorized. Furthermore, we discuss the principal challenges confronting current electrocatalytic systems and propose future research directions. Insights from this review are expected to benefit broad communities of chemical and material research for rationalizing porous electrocatalysts and optimizing eCO<sub>2</sub>RR performances.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9832,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Journal of Catalysis","volume":"67 ","pages":"Pages 4-20"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143172206","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jinchi Li , Wanhai Zhou , Shuqi Yu , Chen Qing , Jian He , Liang Zeng , Yao Wang , Yungui Chen
{"title":"Cu-induced interface engineering of NiCu/Ni3N heterostructures for enhanced alkaline hydrogen oxidation reaction","authors":"Jinchi Li , Wanhai Zhou , Shuqi Yu , Chen Qing , Jian He , Liang Zeng , Yao Wang , Yungui Chen","doi":"10.1016/S1872-2067(24)60142-7","DOIUrl":"10.1016/S1872-2067(24)60142-7","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Constructing well-defined interfaces in catalysts is a highly effective method to accelerate reactions with multiple intermediates. In this study, we developed a heterostructure catalyst combining <em>fcc</em> NiCu and hcp Ni<sub>3</sub>N, aiming at achieving superior performance in alkaline hydrogen electrocatalysis. The NiCu/Ni<sub>3</sub>N not only overcomes the inadequate hydroxyl binding energy performance of NiCu alloys but also solves the problems of insufficient active sites found in most Ni/Ni<sub>3</sub>N. Experimental results and density functional theoretical calculations reveal that the formation of heterostructure significantly depends on the amount of Cu. This approach effectively prevents the side effects of increased catalyst particle size, typically resulting from the high temperatures and prolonged reaction times required for conventional synthesis of Ni/Ni<sub>3</sub>N. The interface of this heterostructure induces a distinctive overlapping effect that enhances the adsorption of water and lowers the energy barrier for the rate-determining step. The NiCu/Ni<sub>3</sub>N catalyst shows an impressive activity of 71.8 mA mg<sup>−1</sup> at an overpotential of 50 mV, a 14.7 times efficiency enhancement compared to pure Ni and comparable to that of low-loaded commercial Pt/C. This research highlights the potential of NiCu/Ni<sub>3</sub>N in advancing catalyst development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9832,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Journal of Catalysis","volume":"67 ","pages":"Pages 186-193"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143170968","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Tian Tian , Wanting Wang , Yiping Wang , Kexin Li , Yuanyuan Li , Wensheng Fu , Yong Ding
{"title":"Mo-doping and CoOx loading over BiVO4 photoanode for enhancing performance of H2O2 synthesis and in-situ organic pollutant degradation","authors":"Tian Tian , Wanting Wang , Yiping Wang , Kexin Li , Yuanyuan Li , Wensheng Fu , Yong Ding","doi":"10.1016/S1872-2067(24)60175-0","DOIUrl":"10.1016/S1872-2067(24)60175-0","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The combination of photoelectrochemical water oxidation hydrogen peroxide (H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>) on the anode and hydrogen evolution on the cathode increase the value of the water splitting process. However, the sluggish water oxidation kinetics and slow carrier transport limit the generation of H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>. In this study, to promote H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> production, the surface of a Mo doped BiVO<sub>4</sub> photoanode was modified with CoO<sub><em>x</em></sub> co-catalyst. The resulting CoO<sub><em>x</em></sub>/Mo-BiVO<sub>4</sub> photoanode generates H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> at a rate of 0.39 μmol min<sup>−1</sup> cm<sup>−2</sup> with a selectivity of 76.9% at 1.7 V<sub>RHE</sub>. The experimental results indicate that CoO<sub><em>x</em></sub> decorated on Mo-BiVO<sub>4</sub> kinetically favors the H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> production via reduced band bending, while inhibiting H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> decomposition. According to density functional theory calculations, the loading of CoO<sub><em>x</em></sub> enhances the efficiency of the Mo-BiVO<sub>4</sub> photoanode in generating H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>. Moreover, the <em>in-situ</em> generated H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> through CoO<sub><em>x</em></sub>/Mo-BiVO<sub>4</sub> was applied to the degradation of tetracycline in aqueous solution, finding that CoO<sub><em>x</em></sub>/Mo-BiVO<sub>4</sub> exhibits the best performance among the catalysts evaluated. This work demonstrates that the CoO<sub><em>x</em></sub> co-catalyst can effectively facilitate the water oxidation to H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>, opening a way for its application <em>in situ</em> water remediation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9832,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Journal of Catalysis","volume":"67 ","pages":"Pages 176-185"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143100113","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Xu Zhang , Wen-Jing Zhang , Yan-Cheng Hu , Zhi-Guang Zhang , Jing-Pei Cao
{"title":"Catalytic production of fused tetracyclic high-energy-density fuel with biomass-derived cyclopentanone and benzoquinone","authors":"Xu Zhang , Wen-Jing Zhang , Yan-Cheng Hu , Zhi-Guang Zhang , Jing-Pei Cao","doi":"10.1016/S1872-2067(24)60148-8","DOIUrl":"10.1016/S1872-2067(24)60148-8","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>High-energy-density (HED) fuels (e.g. JP-10) are of great importance in safeguarding territorial air security, since they can increase the flight range and payload of military aircrafts. To reduce the reliance on limited petroleum source, the production of HED fuel with renewable biomass feedstocks is highly appealing. But currently, most of the synthetic biofuels, due to their intrinsic ring structure, are incapable of competing with JP-10 in terms of energy density and freezing point. By emulating the structural characteristic of JP-10, we herein design and prepare a special C<sub>16</sub> fused tetracyclic biofuel using renewable cyclopentanone and benzoquinone as feedstocks. Key to success depends on selective dehydration of vicinal diol (dimer of cyclopentanone) over Amberlyst-15 in [Hmim]Cl. The Amberlyst-15/[Hmim]Cl system effectively suppresses the dominant pinacol-type rearrangement pathway and also exhibits good reusability for the dehydration. The hydrogen-bonding interaction between vicinal diol and imidazolium ring, as well as electrostatic force between carbocation intermediate and chloride anion contribute to the high diene selectivity. The compact ring framework gives rise to a density of 0.966 g/mL, combustion heat of 43.1 MJ/L, freezing point of ‒67 °C, and kinematic viscosity of 12.4 cSt, which are comparable to the properties of JP-10. It is expected that this as-prepared HED biofuel may potentially serve as a renewable alternative to petroleum fuel JP-10.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9832,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Journal of Catalysis","volume":"67 ","pages":"Pages 166-175"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143100115","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Dynamic proton migration in dual linkage-engineered D-π-A system for photosynthesis H2O2 generation","authors":"Zhihan Yu , Dainan Zhang , Chenbing Ai , Jianjun Zhang , Quanjun Xiang","doi":"10.1016/S1872-2067(24)60159-2","DOIUrl":"10.1016/S1872-2067(24)60159-2","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Accelerated charge migration and proton transfer to the reaction site are critical factors for improving photocatalytic efficiency. However, realizing both simultaneously is challenging because of the sluggish water (proton source) oxidation kinetics and interdependent redox reactions. Herein, we design an imide and hydrogen bond to connect carbon nitride ports of the D-π-A system with the dual-engineered linkages. The system uses an acetylene functional group and an imidazole ring as spatially separated water oxidation and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalytic centers for photogenerated charge separation, respectively. The imine bond is a bridge grafted to the oxidation site to act as a hydrogen proton trap, and the hydrogen bond formed between reduction site and carbon nitride is used as the channel for instantaneous proton delivery to the reduction center. <em>In situ</em> characterization confirms that the linking sites protonation optimizes the pathway of ORR to H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> and facilitates the *OOH intermediates generated. It is concluded that proton transport plays a critical role in optimizing photocatalytic H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> production. Our work provides a strategy to improve dynamic proton transfer mechanisms.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9832,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Journal of Catalysis","volume":"67 ","pages":"Pages 71-81"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143172205","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zhaoping Shi , Ziang Wang , Hongxiang Wu , Meiling Xiao , Changpeng Liu , Wei Xing
{"title":"High-density Ir single sites from rapid ligand transformation for efficient water electrolysis","authors":"Zhaoping Shi , Ziang Wang , Hongxiang Wu , Meiling Xiao , Changpeng Liu , Wei Xing","doi":"10.1016/S1872-2067(24)60128-2","DOIUrl":"10.1016/S1872-2067(24)60128-2","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The development of high-performance oxygen evolution reaction catalysts with low iridium content is the key to the scale-up of proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer (PEMWE) for green hydrogen production. Single-site electrocatalysts with maximized atomic efficiency are held as promising candidates but still suffer from inadequate activity and stability in practical electrolyzer due to the low site density. Here, we proposed a NaNO<sub>3</sub>-assistant thermal decomposition strategy for the preparation of high-density Ir single sites on MnO<sub>2</sub> substrate (NaNO<sub>3</sub>-H-Ir-MnO<sub>2</sub>). Direct spectroscopic evidence suggests the inclusion of NaNO<sub>3</sub> accelerates the transformation of Ir-Cl to Ir-O coordination, thus generating uniform dispersed high-density Ir single sites in the products. The optimized H-Ir-MnO<sub>2</sub> demonstrates not only high intrinsic activity in a three-electrode set-up but also boosted performance in scalable PEMWE, requiring a cell voltage of only 1.74 V to attain a high current density of 2 A cm<sup>‒2</sup> at a low Ir loading of 0.18 mg<sub>Ir</sub> cm<sup>‒2</sup>. This work offers a new insight for enhancing the industrial practicality of Ir-based single site catalysts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9832,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Journal of Catalysis","volume":"66 ","pages":"Pages 223-232"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142700247","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Changshun Deng , Bingqing Ge , Jun Yao , Taotao Zhao , Chenyang Shen , Zhewei Zhang , Tao Wang , Xiangke Guo , Nianhua Xue , Xuefeng Guo , Luming Peng , Yan Zhu , Weiping Ding
{"title":"Surface engineering of TeOx modification on MoVTeNbO creates a high-performance catalyst for oxidation of toluene homologues to aldehydes","authors":"Changshun Deng , Bingqing Ge , Jun Yao , Taotao Zhao , Chenyang Shen , Zhewei Zhang , Tao Wang , Xiangke Guo , Nianhua Xue , Xuefeng Guo , Luming Peng , Yan Zhu , Weiping Ding","doi":"10.1016/S1872-2067(24)60137-3","DOIUrl":"10.1016/S1872-2067(24)60137-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The heterogeneous catalytic oxidation of toluene by O<sub>2</sub> is an inherently safe and green route for production of benzaldehyde, but after more than fifty years of effort, it remains a great challenge. Here, we report the best heterogeneous catalyst, TeO<sub><em>x</em></sub>/MoVTeNbO, up to now for the green oxidation of toluene by O<sub>2</sub> to benzaldehyde, balancing the catalyst activity, selectivity, and stability. The deposition of TeO<sub><em>x</em></sub> endows the MoVTeNbO composite oxide with entirely new property for toluene oxidation and the surface engineering mechanism has been fully explained. The discrete TeO<sub><em>x</em></sub> clusters on the surface, shielding the nonselective oxidation sites that interact strongly with the benzene ring of toluene molecule, allows toluene molecule to chemically adsorb to the surface perpendicularly and the methyl is then prone to oxidation to aldehyde on the reshaped selective oxidation sites, where V=O is the main active species responsible for continuously extracting hydrogen from methyl and implanting oxygen to form benzaldehyde. The TeO<sub><em>x</em></sub> clusters participate in this reaction through variable valences and stabilize benzaldehyde by couple interaction with the –CHO group of benzaldehyde, thereby achieving high selectivity to benzaldehyde (>95%). The extended works indicate that the catalytic mechanism is effective in a series of selective oxidation of toluene homologues to corresponding aldehydes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9832,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Journal of Catalysis","volume":"66 ","pages":"Pages 268-281"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142700288","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jielin Huang , Jie Wang , Haonan Duan , Songsong Chen , Junping Zhang , Li Dong , Xiangping Zhang
{"title":"Constructing mesoporous CeO2 single-crystal particles in ionic liquids for enhancing the conversion of CO2 and alcohols to carbonates","authors":"Jielin Huang , Jie Wang , Haonan Duan , Songsong Chen , Junping Zhang , Li Dong , Xiangping Zhang","doi":"10.1016/S1872-2067(24)60117-8","DOIUrl":"10.1016/S1872-2067(24)60117-8","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Catalysts for CO<sub>2</sub> value-added conversion have been extensively explored, but there is still a lack of systematic design for catalysts that achieve efficient CO<sub>2</sub> conversion under mild conditions. Herein, we explored a mesoporous CeO<sub>2</sub> single-crystal formed with the regulation of ionic liquids, which catalyzed the effective carbonylation reaction with CO<sub>2</sub> under mild reaction conditions. By altering the synthetic environment, a series of uniform mesoporous CeO<sub>2</sub> particles with atomically aligned single-crystal frameworks were constructed, which have different surface physicochemical properties and primary aggregation degree. The prepared mesoporous CeO<sub>2</sub> single-crystal achieved efficient activation of CO<sub>2</sub> and alcohols at 0.5 MPa CO<sub>2</sub> and 100 °C, and the CeO<sub>2</sub>-IL-M catalyst shows optimal catalytic performance in the synthesis of ethylene carbonate with 46.22 mmol g<sup>–1</sup> h<sup>–1</sup>, which was 50.6 times as high as that of the CeO<sub>2</sub> obtained without ionic liquids. Subsequently, the catalytic pathway and mechanism of carbonylation reaction with CO<sub>2</sub> on mesoporous CeO<sub>2</sub> single-crystal were studied <em>via</em> React-IR spectra and C<sup>18</sup>O<sub>2</sub> labeling experiments. The research provides a new strategy for controllable nanoscale assembly of mesoporous single-crystal materials and expands the application range of single-crystal materials, aiming to develop novel catalytic materials to meet industrial needs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9832,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Journal of Catalysis","volume":"66 ","pages":"Pages 152-167"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142699773","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jinchang Xu , Yongqi Jian , Guang-Qiang Yu , Wanli Liang , Junmin Zhu , Muzi Yang , Jian Chen , Fangyan Xie , Yanshuo Jin , Nan Wang , Xi-Bo Li , Hui Meng
{"title":"Manipulating the spin configuration by topochemical transformation for optimized intermediates adsorption ability in oxygen evolution reaction","authors":"Jinchang Xu , Yongqi Jian , Guang-Qiang Yu , Wanli Liang , Junmin Zhu , Muzi Yang , Jian Chen , Fangyan Xie , Yanshuo Jin , Nan Wang , Xi-Bo Li , Hui Meng","doi":"10.1016/S1872-2067(24)60140-3","DOIUrl":"10.1016/S1872-2067(24)60140-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The underlying spin-related mechanism remains unclear, and the rational manipulation of spin states is challenging due to various spin configurations under different coordination conditions. Therefore, it is urgent to study spin-dependent oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance through a controllable method. Herein, we adopt a topochemical reaction method to synthesize a series of selenides with <em>e</em><sub>g</sub> occupancies ranging from 1.67 to 1.37. The process begins with monoclinic-CoSeO<sub>3</sub>, featuring a distinct laminar structure and Co-O<sub>6</sub> coordination. The topochemical reaction induces significant changes in the crystal field's intensity, leading to spin state transitions. These transitions are driven by topological changes from a Co-O-Se-O-Co to a Co-Se-Co configuration, strengthening the crystalline field and reducing <em>e</em><sub>g</sub> orbital occupancy. This reconfiguration of spin states shifts the rate-determining step from desorption to adsorption for both OER and the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), reducing the potential-determined step barrier and enhancing overall catalytic efficiency. As a result, the synthesized cobalt selenide exhibits significantly enhanced adsorption capabilities. The material demonstrates impressive overpotentials of 35 mV for HER, 250 mV for OER, and 270 mV for overall water splitting, indicating superior catalytic activity and efficiency. Additionally, a negative relation between <em>e</em><sub>g</sub> filling and OER catalytic performance confirms the spin-dependent nature of OER. Our findings provide crucial insights into the role of spin state transitions in catalytic performance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9832,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Journal of Catalysis","volume":"66 ","pages":"Pages 195-211"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142700245","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shugang Sun , Yang Zhu , Letian Hong , Xuebing Li , Yu Gu , Hui Shi
{"title":"Interplay of solvent and metal identity determines rates and stereoselectivities in M(IV)-Beta-catalyzed intramolecular Prins cyclization of citronellal","authors":"Shugang Sun , Yang Zhu , Letian Hong , Xuebing Li , Yu Gu , Hui Shi","doi":"10.1016/S1872-2067(24)60122-1","DOIUrl":"10.1016/S1872-2067(24)60122-1","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Zeolites of *BEA framework topology containing isomorphously substituted Lewis acidic metal centers catalyze the liquid-phase intramolecular Prins cyclization of citronellal with outstanding catalytic activity and (dia-)stereoselectivity to the commercially most valuable product, isopulegol (IPL). Effects of the metal-center identity and solvent type were occasionally noted, yet without systematic studies hitherto reported. Here, characteristic dependences of catalytic activities and stereoselectivities on solvent and metal identity were uncovered over four <em>M</em>(IV)-Beta catalysts (<em>M</em> = Sn, Ti, Zr and Hf) in four distinct solvents (i.e., acetonitrile, tert-butanol, cyclohexane and <em>n</em>-hexane). Zr- and Hf-Beta were the most active in acetonitrile and the most selective (> 90% to IPL) in tert-butanol, though their activities were generally lower than Ti- and Sn-Beta in solvents other than acetonitrile. By comparison, Ti-Beta was inferior to other catalysts in terms of both activity and IPL selectivity (as previously shown) in acetonitrile but became the most active in other solvents, with markedly increased IPL selectivity from 60% to 70%‒80%. Combining multiple site discrimination and quantification techniques, turnover frequencies were determined for the first time in this reaction; such site-based activities, coupled with comprehensive kinetic interrogations, not only enabled a rigorous comparison of catalytic activities across M-Beta catalysts but also provided deeper insights into the free energy driving forces as solvent and metal identity are varied. The activity and selectivity trends, as well as those for the adsorption and intrinsic activation parameters are caused by solvent co-binding at the active site (acetonitrile and tert-butanol) and less quantifiable crowding effects (cyclohexane) due to the limited pore space and the need to accommodate relatively bulky reactant-derived moieties. This work exemplifies how the interplay of metal identity and solvent determines the reactivities and selectivities in Lewis-acid-catalyzed reactions within confined spaces.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":9832,"journal":{"name":"Chinese Journal of Catalysis","volume":"66 ","pages":"Pages 233-246"},"PeriodicalIF":15.7,"publicationDate":"2024-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142700285","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}