Constructing two dimensional amide porous polymer to promote selective oxidation reactions

The covalent organic polymer synthesis is an elegant way to design materials with various topologies and explore new structures and properties. Herein, we report the synthesis of a novel porous polymer framework with the [3 + 2] structure motif via the condensation of 1,3,5-benzenetricarbonyl trichloride and p-phenylenediamine. The resulting highly stable mesoporous 2D framework material exhibits continuous conjugation of π-electronic system. Apart from gas adsorption properties, this material shows remarkable catalytic activity manifested by the conjugated π-cloud and amide functionality in selective oxidation reactions. Utmost selectivity of the reaction that exclusively yields aldehydes from benzyl alcohols via a free radical pathway is proposed and demonstrated. This is one of the rare cases of any organic polymer material acting as an outstanding organic catalyst with no metal add-ons.