Heterogeneous Carbon Nitrides Photocatalysis C-C Bond Oxidative Cleavage of Vicinal Diols in Aerobic Micellar Medium

A green and efficient visible-light promoted aerobic oxidative C-C bond cleavage of vicinal diols in micellar medium has been developed. This protocol used nitrogen vacancies introduced graphitic carbon nitrides (CN620) as a metal-free recyclable photocatalyst and CTAB as surfactant in water. Controlled experiments and ESR result indicated superoxide radicals and valence band holes played an important role in the reaction. Further isotope experiments suggested both β-scission/HAT pathway and oxidation/hydrolysis/dehydration pathway in the reaction which is different from previous reports. The semiconductor/micellar catalyst system is fully recyclable at least 10 times without significant reducing activity. Furthermore, this reaction could be carried out under solar light irradiation and applicable for large-scale reaction with conserved results.