A copper diimine-based honeycomb-like porous network as an efficient reduction catalyst

Nitrophenols are among the widely used industrial chemicals worldwide; however, their hazardous effects on environment are a major concern nowadays. Therefore, the conversion of environmentally detrimental p-nitrophenol (PNP) to industrially valuable p-aminophenol (PAP), a prototype reaction, is an important organic transformation reaction. However, the traditional conversion of PNP to PAP is an expensive and environmentally unfriendly process. Here, we report a honeycomb-like porous network with zeolite-like channels formed by the self-organization of copper, 1,10-phenanthroline, 4,4′-bipyridine, and water. This porous network effectively catalyzed the transformation of hazardous PNP to pharmaceutically valued PAP. In the presence of complex, PNP to PAP conversion occurred in a few minutes, which is otherwise a very sluggish process. To assess the kinetics, the catalytic conversion of PNP to PAP was studied at five different temperatures. The linearity of lnC_t/C_o versus temperature plot indicated pseudo-first-order kinetics. The copper complex with zeolite like channels may find applications as a reduction catalyst both on laboratory and industrial scales and in green chemistry for the remediation of pollutants.