Dual-Active-Sites Design of Co@C Catalysts for Ultrahigh Selective Hydrogenation of N-Heteroarenes

Summary Ideal heterogeneous metal hydrogenation catalysts are featured by simultaneously high activity, selectivity, and stability. Herein, we report a general yet powerful strategy to design and fabricate dual-active-sites Co@C core-shell nanoparticle for boosting selective hydrogenation of various N-heteroarenes. It can break the limitation of scaling relation on traditional metal surfaces, and thus afford unprecedentedly high selectivity, activity, and stability. Combining kinetics analysis and DFT calculations with multiple techniques directly unveil that the critical porous carbon shell with a pore size of 0.53 nm not only allows H2 diffusion to Co sites for activation and blocks accessibility of N-heteroarenes but also catalyzes hydrogenation of N-heteroarenes via hydrogen spillover from Co sites. In addition, the presence of surface/subsurface carbon at the Co sites shows high anti-sulfur poisoning and anti-oxidant capability. This work is valuable for guiding the design and manipulation of cost-effective and robust hydrogenation catalysts.