Selective oxidation of glucose to gluconic acid and glucaric acid with chlorin e6 modified carbon nitride as metal-free photocatalyst

Abstract Photocatalysis has exhibited huge potential in many reactions, but the design of metal-free photocatalytic material for selective upgrading of biomass is rarely achieved. Here, we report that the metal-free photocatalyst consisted of nitrogen-deficient carbon nitride (BNCN) and chlorin e6 (Ce6) can efficiently and selectively oxidize glucose into gluconic acid and glucaric acid. Introducing nitrogen defects could significantly enhance the optical absorption and modulate the band structure. In addition, the combination of Ce6 with BNCN further improve the optical absorption property and promote effective separation of photon-generated carriers. As expected, the resultant Ce6@BNCN catalyst gave a total selectivity of gluconic acid, glucaric acid and arabinose as high as 70.9% at glucose conversion up to 62.3%, as is superior to previously reported photocatalytic systems. The mechanism for the enhancement of catalytic performance and the reaction pathway were revealed by experimental studies combined with DFT calculations.