New Reaction Pathway Induced by Plasmon for Selective Benzyl Alcohol Oxidation on BiOCl Possessing Oxygen Vacancies

Selective organic transformation under mild conditions constitutes a challenge in green chemistry, especially for alcohol oxidation, which typically requires environmentally unfriendly oxidants. Here, we report a new plasmonic catalyst of Au supported on BiOCl containing oxygen vacancies. It photocatalyzes selective benzyl alcohol oxidation with O2 under visible light through synergistic action of plasmonic hot electrons and holes. Oxygen vacancies on BiOCl facilitate the trapping and transfer of plasmonic hot electrons to adsorbed O2, producing •O2– radicals, while plasmonic hot holes remaining on the Au surface mildly oxidize benzyl alcohol to corresponding carbon-centered radicals. The hypothesized…

• NN
  National Natural Science Foundation of China

  Awards: 51472100, 21425728, 21229101
• MO
  Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China

  Award: 2013CB632402
• RG
  Research Grants Council, University Grants Committee

  Award: T23-407-13N
• CC
  Central China Normal University

  Award: 2015YBZD018