Effective and Selective Catalysts for Cinnamaldehyde Hydrogenation: Hydrophobic Hybrids of Metal–Organic Frameworks, Metal Nanoparticles, and Micro‐ and Mesoporous Polymers

Abstract

Abstract Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) as selectivity regulators for catalytic reactions have attracted much attention, especially MOFs and metal nanoparticle (NP) shelled structures, e.g., MOFs@NPs@MOFs. Nevertheless, making hydrophilic MOF shells for gathering hydrophobic reactants is challenging. Described here is a new and viable approach employing conjugated micro‐ and mesoporous polymers with iron(III) porphyrin (FeP‐CMPs) as a new shell to fabricate MIL‐101@Pt@FeP‐CMP. It is not only hydrophobic and porous for enriching reactants, but also possesses iron sites to activate C=O bonds, thereby regulating the selectivity for cinnamyl alcohol in the hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde. Interestingly, MIL‐101@Pt@FeP‐CMP sponge can achieve a high turnover frequency ( 1516.1 h −1 ), with 97.3 % selectivity for cinnamyl alcohol at 97.6 % conversion.