Chemoselective Hydrogenation of Nitro Compounds by MoS₂via Introduction of Independent Active Hydrogen-Donating Sites

The chemoselective hydrogenation of nitro compounds is limited by a trade-off between the activity and selectivity of catalysis. It is found that MoS₂-based catalysts can replace noble metals to achieve nearly 100% selectivity toward hydrogenation to aromatic amines. However, the insufficient supply of active hydrogen (H_a) limits the conversion to a low level. To break the trade-off between activity and selectivity, a dual-active site catalyst was designed using exfoliated MoS₂as a support and modifying it with single-atom Pt as independent, active hydrogen-donating sites. Isolated Pt atoms continuously provide H_ato the hydrogenation sites of MoS₂. This strategy solves the problem of insufficient H_asupply, which is caused by the competitive adsorption of nitro groups and hydrogen on MoS₂, by matching the rate of H_aproduction and H_aconsumption, resulting in a greatly increased reaction rate.