Regulating the hydrogenation selectivity of platinum using a two-dimensional zeolite

Unsaturated alcohols are important pharmaceutical intermediates; however, their synthesis from unsaturated aldehydes is challenging because the C=C hydrogenation is more thermodynamically preferential than the transformation of C=O. Suitable catalysts with regulated catalytic selectivity to hydrogenation are required. Two-dimensional (2D) zeolites possess high aspect ratios and many terminal bonds as anchoring sites, rendering them not only candidates as catalyst supports but also promising for adjusting the performance of the catalysts. In this study, we exploited a 2D zeolite, IPC-1P, as the support for Pt nanoparticles (NPs) to produce a heterogeneous catalyst, Pt@IPC-1P. The Pt NPs were uniformly distributed on the IPC-1P with a size of less than 2 nm. Unexpectedly, Pt@IPC-1P exhibited over 90% selectivity to unsaturated alcohols and nearly 100% catalytic conversion, exceeding the catalytic performance of other Pt-based catalysts. Theoretical calculations showed that the 2D zeolite facilitated the formation of the cinnamyl alcohol from cinnamaldehyde, as evidenced by the more energetically preferential exothermic effect than that of phenylpropylaldehyde. The 2D zeolite has an unfolded prospect for catalytic usages in organic transformation.