Iridium nanoparticles supported on hierarchical porous N-doped carbon: an efficient water-tolerant catalyst for bio-alcohol condensation in water

Nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbons were synthesized successfully by a controllable one-pot method using glucose and dicyandiamide as carbon source and nitrogen source via hydrothermal carbonization process. The nitrogen-doped materials, possessing high nitrogen content (up to 7 wt%), large surface area (>320 m(2) g(-1)) and excellent hierarchical nanostructure, were employed as catalyst supports for immobilization of iridium nanoparticles for bio-alcohol condensation in water. The introduction of nitrogen atoms into the carbon framework significantly improved iridium nanoparticles dispersion and stabilization. The novel iridium catalysts exhibited superior catalytic activity in the aqueous phase condensation of butanol, offering high butanol conversion of 45% with impressive 2-ethylhexanol selectivity of 97%. The heterogeneous catalysts had great advantages of easy recovery and high catalytic stability. The outstanding catalytic performance could be attributed to excellent dispersion of iridium nanoparticles, stronger iridium-support interactions and interaction of nitrogen species with alcohol substrates.