Visible Light-driven Dehydrogenation of Benzylamine under Liberation of H2

Abstract

The visible light-driven transformation of chemical compounds in combination with the liberation of H2 is highly attractive. Herein, we report on a photocatalyst that allows the acceptorless dehydrogenation of benzylamine. Upon light absorption, free charge carriers are generated and used for the concerted imine formation and liberation of H2. Our photocatalyst consists of CdS as a light harvesting semiconductor supported on colloidal metal-organic framework crystallites. The decoration with co-catalytic nickel nanoparticles promotes hydrogen evolution and, in addition, stabilizes the CdS component under irradiation.